Who is Steven Van de Velde? The Dutch beach volleyball player constantly booed at Paris Olympics 2024

Van de Velde has been convicted of crimes in the past.

The Paris Olympics 2024 has welcomed athletes from diverse backgrounds, but the presence of Dutch beach volleyball player Steven Van de Velde has stirred controversy due to his criminal past.

Van de Velde, 29, is representing the Netherlands alongside Matthew Immers in beach volleyball. However, his Olympic debut was met with boos from the crowd, stemming from a serious incident in his past.

Why was Steven van de Velde booed at Paris Olympics?

The reason why the 29-year-old Dutch volleyball player was booed by the crowd at the Paris Olympics is because of his history of being a convicted rapist. Van de Velde gained popularity at a very young age in his life and actually won the U-20 Dutch National Beach Volleyball Championships in 2011, when he was only about 16.

But in 2014, Van de Velde – who was 19 at that time – started interacting with a 12-year-old girl on Facebook. He started making moves on her in the assumption that the girl was 16, but even when she told him her real age, he did not stop interacting with her.

In August 2014, Van de Velde travelled to Milton Keyes and got the girl drunk, after which he proceeded to rape her three times over a course of two days. After the incident, the Dutchman returned to his country before telling the girl to seek help through contraception. The girl confessed the incidents and Van de Velde was charged soon after that.

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In 2016, after years of legal battle, he was extradited to the UK and pled guilty of the heinous crime. Van de Velde was sentenced to four years of prison time, but ended up only serving 13 months before being released in 2017. Despite his early release, the Dutchman showed little remorse for his crimes and hit out at “all the nonsense” that was written of his rape crimes and refused to acknowledge claims of being a paedophile.

What has been said of Steven Van de Velde participating in Paris Olympics?

After being released from prison, the Dutch volleyball played decided to return to competitive Beach Volleyball in 2018. The Dutch Beach Volleyball Association (Nevobo) allowed him to continue playing, after which he started going up the ranks across the regional and n ational competitions in his country.

He managed to qualify for the Paris Olympics with his partner Matthew Immers and the Dutch association decided to allow him to participate in the Olympics, despite backlash from the sporting world. The general director of Nevobo, Michel Everaert said before the Olympics: “We know Steven’s history. Before he expressed his desire to return to beach volleyball at the time, we spoke extensively with him but also with NOC*NSF (The Dutch Olympic Committee*Dutch Sports Federation), among others.

“He was convicted at the time according to English law and he has served his sentence. From then on, we have been in constant contact with Steven, who has now been fully reintegrated into the Dutch volleyball community. He is proving to be an exemplary professional and human being and there has been no reason to doubt him since his return. We fully support him and his participation in Paris, which he and Matthew have earned.”

The Dutch Olympic Sport committee made a statement of his inclusion by telling BBC Sport: “After his release, Van de Velde sought and received professional counselling. He demonstrated to those around him – privately and professionally – self-insight and reflection.”

Van de Velde suffered some poetic justice as he and Immers ended up losing their first match against Italian duo Alex Ranghieri and Adrian Carambula. But the duo bounced back strongly in their second match, defeating Czech Republican duo Marco Grimalt and Esteban Grimalt. If able to win their final group game, then Van de Velde and Immers will move onto the pre-quarterfinals.

The 29-year-old has defended himself against being called a ‘paedophile’ in a past interview, where he admitted: “I can’t reverse it, so will have to bear the consequences. It has been the biggest mistake of my life. I have been branded as a sex monster, as a paedophile. That I am not, really not.”

Despite his dark past, Van de Velde is now married to former German Beach Volleyball player Kim Behrens. He is also the brother-in-law of German footballer Kevin Behrens, who plays for VFL Wolfsburg.

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