How a convicted child rapist is still somehow allowed to compete in the Paris Olympics

Steven van de Velde will represent the Netherlands in beach volleyball at the Paris Olympics this year – despite the fact he was convicted for the rape of a 12 year old girl when he was 19. Van de Velde met a girl on Facebook and travelled to the UK to meet her, and when her mother was out gave her alcohol and raped her several times in her own home. When van de Velde was eventually extradited to the UK from the Netherlands in 2016 to face arrest and trial for what he did, he plead guilty to three counts of rape and was sentenced to a four year prison sentence. The judge told him “Your hopes of representing your country [as an Olympic athlete] now lie as a shattered dream” and “He [Van de Velde] has lost a stellar sports career and has been branded a rapist. Plainly it is a career end for him.” Only, it wasn’t. Because Steven van de Velde is currently living in the Olympic Village, ready to represent the Netherlands in the Paris Olympics 2024. But how is this allowed to happen – that Steven van de Velde is allowed in the Olympics despite his crimes?

In a nutshell? Because his country has allowed it

The Netherlands, the authority of who is allowed to represent the country in the Olympics is the responsibility of the Dutch Olympic Committee-Dutch Sports Federation, the NOC-NSF. The NOC-NSF says that van de Velde hits all the requirements needed to represent the country – despite his criminal record. It’s worth noting that if Steven van de Velde’s career continues to the next Olympics, taking place in LA, he wouldn’t be allowed into the country.

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Steven van de Velde is allowed to compete in the Paris Olympics because the NOC-NSF have okayed it. The International Olympic Committee has the stance that athlete selection is down to each country’s National Olympic Committee. As per all reports and from what he’s said since finishing his sentence, van de Velde is remorseful and calls his crime the biggest mistake of his life.

The team boss for the Netherlands, Pieter van den Hoogenband, has voiced his support for the decision that allowed Steven van de Velde to compete in the Paris Olympics. Van den Hoogenband says “measures” have been taken to facilitate van de Velde, including housing him away from other athletes in the Olympic Village and giving him a blanket ban on speaking to any of the press. Van den Hoogenband also said there would be “no question” of van de Velde’s inclusion and that he was “surprised” by the reaction and backlash.

Steven van de Velde in Latvia, 2020. Via Shutterstock

Speaking to Dutch outlet NOS, Van den Hoogenband said “Steven has been active in international sports and the beach volleyball world for a long time. He has played in World Cups, European Championships and World Championships, but then you see that things are different around the Games. That things are exaggerated around the Games.

‘We don’t have blinkers on and we don’t close our eyes. I’m the boss, responsible for the whole team, for the athletes. He’s just a member of the team, he qualified, and that’s why he deserves our support. All athletes are dear to me and I try to support them. Steven and Matthew [Immers, Steven’s playing partner] are also part of that.”

Hoogenband was also asked how van de Velde copes with the scrutiny that he being a child rapist has brought to the lead up to the Olympics. “I think he reacts well and level-headedly. He’s not going to downplay it. We have to respect it and help him as a member of the team, to be able to perform.

“I think he is doing well. With respect for all the feelings of other people. I think he has a good focus, with his partner, because they have to do it together. Hopefully we can soon talk about the sport again.”

With the conversation online, it’s unlikely that the conversation on van de Velde will change focus anytime soon – as people continue to ask how it’s possible that a convicted child rapist is allowed to compete, and how there is no over-arching rule that stops this. It’s been pointed out that there are athletes competing of a similar age to van de Velde’s victim – notably, in skateboarding. Where is the IOC’s line for what is allowed? Can convicted murderers compete if they have served their sentence?

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Featured image via Shutterstock