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Volleyball player convicted of raping a child who competed in Olympics speaks out in emotional interview

Home> News> Sport

Updated 14:19 13 Aug 2024 GMT+1Published 14:11 13 Aug 2024 GMT+1

Volleyball player convicted of raping a child who competed in Olympics speaks out in emotional interview

The decision to allow convicted child rapist Steven Van de Velde to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics prompted widespread outrage

Poppy Bilderbeck

Poppy Bilderbeck

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.

Steven van de Velde is a convicted child rapist (Elsa/Getty Images)
Steven van de Velde is a convicted child rapist (Elsa/Getty Images)

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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.

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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.

Van de Velde spoke with reporters earlier today ( RAMON VAN FLYMEN/ANP/AFP via Getty Images)
Van de Velde spoke with reporters earlier today ( RAMON VAN FLYMEN/ANP/AFP via Getty Images)

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.

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"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."

Featured Image Credit: Ulrik Pedersen/DeFodi Images via Getty Images/Elsa/Getty Images

Topics: Sport, Olympics, Crime

Poppy Bilderbeck
Poppy Bilderbeck

Poppy Bilderbeck is a Senior Journalist at LADbible Group. She graduated from The University of Manchester in 2021 with a First in English Literature and Drama, where alongside her studies she was Editor-in-Chief of The Tab Manchester. Poppy is most comfortable when chatting about all things mental health, is proving a drama degree is far from useless by watching and reviewing as many TV shows and films as possible and is such a crisp fanatic the office has been forced to release them in batches.

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