Dutchman Steven van de Velde will represent his country in beach volleyball at the Paris Olympics.
Beach volleyball player sentenced to prison for raping a 12-year-old girl Steven van de Velde representing the Netherlands at the Paris Olympics.
Van de Velde, 29, was jailed for four years in 2016 after admitting three counts of child rape that took place in Britain in August 2014. He met his victims through social media and traveled from Amsterdam to Milton Keynes, Britain.
Van de Velde served his rape sentence in Holland, but was released after only 12 months.
After this, Van de Velde continued his career and has been competing in international tournaments since 2018. Van de Velde competes in his pair at the Olympics by Matthew Immers with.
– After his release, Van de Velde applied for and received professional counseling. He showed those around him – privately and professionally – his own views and clear self-reflection, Dutch Olympic Committee (NOC) told BBC Sport.
According to the NOC, Van de Velden has met all the criteria set by the Dutch Volleyball Association, which sets the conditions for athletes to continue competing after a criminal conviction. In addition, according to the criteria, he is fully Olympic-eligible.
According to the International Olympic Committee, the appointment of individual team members is entirely the responsibility of the countries’ National Olympic Committees.
– I can’t undo it, so I have to bear the consequences. It has been the biggest mistake of my life, Van de Velde has said in his previous interviews with the Dutch media.