PARIS — Steven van de Velde, the Dutch beach volleyball player who served time in prison for having sex with a 12-year-old girl, received a mix of boos and applause when he was introduced before his loss in the opening match of the Paris Olympics on Sunday.
Van de Velde didn’t speak to reporters after his three-set loss to Italy, breaking with long-standing IOC policy. “He’s not here because he just wants to put his mind off it and focus on the match,” said teammate Matthew Immers, who said he was unaware of the crowd’s reaction.
John van Vliet, a spokesman for the Dutch team, said the decision to protect van de Velde was made by the national Olympic committee and reported to the International Olympic Committee. Asked whether they were protecting a convicted child rapist, he said: “We protect convicted child rapists so that they can perform as best as they can in the events for which they qualify.”
“The issue of sex offense convictions and sex-related offenses in general is certainly an issue that is bigger than sports,” Van Vleet said in the postgame mixed zone. “In this case, we have an individual who was convicted, served their sentence and then did everything they could to be able to compete again.”
Van de Velde was convicted in Britain in 2016 of having sex with a 12-year-old girl and served a total of 13 months in prison in Britain and the Netherlands.
The 29-year-old Olympic rookie was greeted with only a few boos when she first stepped onto the sand for warm-ups, but the boos grew louder during her more formal pre-game introductions. Immers, and every other athlete who has ever taken to the sand at a Summer Olympics, was greeted with cheers.
The match, held at the Olympic Games’ iconic venue at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, took place on a sunny opening day and saw no other signs of protest.
The controversy caught the Dutch pair off guard, as van de Velde’s performance had not been an issue over the two-year qualifying period, but it resurfaced after the team rose to 11th in the world rankings and qualified for the Olympics as the second-best Dutch team.
Immers said it was unfortunate that attention to the incident was dominating discussion of his Olympic debut.
“I’ve played him for many years, the last three years, in numerous tournaments, and it’s never been an issue,” Van Vleet said. “I’m not going to judge whether it should have been an issue or not, but it’s never been an issue, and now all of a sudden, this is a surprise to them.”
The International Volleyball Federation said it could not have prevented van de Velde, who had qualified in the normal way, from sending the Netherlands to Paris. Van de Velde, who is not in the athletes’ village and has not spoken to the media, has previously called the incident “the biggest mistake of my life.”
An IOC spokesman followed the Dutch side’s lead and repeated what national officials had said about the extra safety measures being put in place.
2024 Paris Olympics
“I’m in no way making excuses, but this happened 10 years ago and generally speaking I think the possibility of rehabilitation needs to be considered,” Mark Adams said at the IOC’s regular news conference.
Van Vleet said the decision not to use Van de Velde was aimed at keeping the focus on the sport.
“We want to talk about the sport and specifically about him. We are very aware that if we bring Stephen here it won’t be about his sport or his performance,” he said. “We are here to create an environment where all athletes can perform well.”
Immers, who, like Van Fleet, speaks imperfect English, declined to comment on Van de Velde’s criminal history, saying “what’s bygones is bygones.”
“I think Steven is a really good example right now,” Immers said. “It’s a lot of fun playing with him. Bygones is bygones. He took his punishment but he’s really sweet now. For me, it’s a big example of growing up. I learned a lot from it. And of course, you never know what happened in the past – not good, of course – but now I’m just trying to have fun and move on to the next round.”
Security at the match remained the same as it had been when the tournament opened Saturday, and most of the fans’ attention was focused on Italy’s Adrian Carambula’s crowd-pleasing skyball serve, which spun high above the Olympic rings that decorate the arena’s roof.
Carambula, along with Alex Ranghieri, rallied from 20-17 behind to win the first set by winning five consecutive points, and did himself proud in front of his fans. The Dutchman closed out the second set with his first set point to win 21-19.
Trailing 13-11 in the third set, van de Velde’s serve hit the net and the Netherlands fought back to 14-13 before Carambula dinked it past Immers to seal the win.
“I don’t know if it was my best match technically, but I made up for it with a lot of energy,” said four-time Olympian Carambula, who insisted the controversy over van de Velde’s criminal record was not on his mind going into the match.
“I wanted the crowd to support me and win,” he said. “That was the key.”
Juan de Velde’s next match is against Chile on Wednesday, and a second defeat would make their path to the knockout stages tougher, but not impossible.
