Dutch admit: ‘We protect convicted child rapist’ Steven van de Velde at the Olympic Games in Paris

The Dutch Olympic team has explicitly admitted that they are protecting Steven van de Velde, the beach volleyball player who made his Olympic debut on Sunday despite being convicted of raping a 12-year-old British girl when he was 19, from open discussions about his past.

“We are protecting a convicted child molester, yes,” said press officer John van Vliet after Van de Velde was allowed to avoid media duties after the event. “In order to practice his sport as best he can, at a tournament for which he qualified.”

It was a stunning statement on a day unlike any the Olympics had ever seen. Van de Velde, 29, sentenced to four years in prison in 2016 for three counts of raping a child he met on Facebook, was roundly booed as he stepped onto the pitch for his first match in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, which he and partner Matthew Immers would go on to lose to Italy. But the most extraordinary scenes came next, when Van de Velde was quickly led away by three security guards, leaving Immers and Van Vliet to face a withering interrogation by more than 50 journalists.

Although all athletes must be available to the media after the competition, according to International Olympic Committee rules, Van Vliet acknowledged that a special dispensation was granted for Van de Velde. “It’s definitely created a different situation for Steven,” he said. “We are very aware that when we bring Steven here, it’s not going to be about sport or his performance. There was a time before, at least 100 tournaments in beach volleyball, that this was never discussed. He never had to do anything about it. So we wanted to create the environment that we’re used to and not make it extra special on an even bigger stage for these players.”

But a key point is that Olympians are expected to meet a higher standard than at other tournaments. All athletes in Paris must sign a declaration promising to act as “role models.” Given the nature of his crime, Van de Velde will likely fall far short of that description in the eyes of many.

“The general issue of sexual convictions or sexual crimes is absolutely a much bigger issue than sports,” Van Vliet acknowledged. “But in his case, we’re dealing with an individual who was convicted, who served his sentence, who then did everything he could do to be able to compete again.”

Although agreements were made for Van de Velde to stay away from the athletes’ village, the Dutch delegation announced that he would still come to their premises for team meetings. As bodyguards quickly removed him from the venue to prevent any scrutiny, his partner Immers, 23, had to offer a very uncomfortable defence of his involvement in the Games.

“He’s had his punishment,” Immers said. “And now he’s really nice. For me, that’s a great example of how you can grow. What happened in the past is obviously not good.” Asked if Van de Velde ever expressed regret for his dark past in private conversations, he replied: “No, he doesn’t. He doesn’t explain. We just want to focus on the present.”