Volleyball player convicted of raping a child who competed in Olympics speaks out in emotional interview
Poppy Bilderbeck
Featured Image Credit: Ulrik Pedersen/DeFodi Images via Getty Images/Elsa/Getty Images
Convicted child rapist Dutch volleyball player Steven Van de Velde has addressed the backlash he's faced for being allowed to take part in the Olympics.
Ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics, it was revealed Van de Velde had qualified for a spot on the Netherlands volleyball squad despite having previously pleaded guilty to raping a 12-year-old girl, with the athlete being 19 years old at the time.
Van de Velde was convicted of rape in 2016 and served one year in prison - despite being sentenced to four - and was back competing in national sport by 2018, even though the judge told him his actions had destroyed his Olympic dreams.
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The confirmation of the 29-year-old taking part in the 2024 Olympics was met with extreme backlash, leaders of various crisis and support lines calling for the International Olympics Committee (IOC) to investigate how it was allowed.
CEO of Rape Crisis England & Wales, Ciara Bergman, said: "It sends a damaging message - that competing in sports matters more than raping a child, and that so long as a perpetrator of sexual violence has 'moved on' from their behaviour, the victim and the rest of us should, too."
Every time Van de Velde appeared in a game in the Olympics, members of the audience booed him and his teammate Matthew Immers spoke out, branding the reaction 'disappointing'.
And now Van de Velde has since spoken out about the backlash he's faced.
During a press conference which took place earlier today (August 13), Van de Velde grew emotional when asked whether or not he'd thought about missing out on this year's Olympics as a result of the backlash which built up before the competition had even begun.
He said, as quoted by the Sun: "I definitely thought about it, yes. I did something wrong, ten years ago. I have to accept that.
"But hurting people around me - whether it's Matthew, my wife, my child... That just goes too far for me.
"That's definitely a moment where I thought, is this worth it?"
Nevertheless, the volleyball player still took part in the 2024 Olympics, however, ultimately he and Immers were knocked out after being defeated by Brazil by 21-16, 21-16 in straight sets on Sunday.
Immers told reporters after the pair's Olympic journey came to an end: "If I can speak for him, after the match we lost, we were disappointed. But we said to each other: 'Look what we did together. Look how hard we fought with all the attention.' We stayed together.
"We cried together off the field and said, 'OK, let's just enjoy this moment.' And we did that. So I'm happy we did it that way."