He was a source of controversary at the games
A convicted child rapist volleyball player teared up after being eliminated from the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Steven van de Velde and his teammate Matthews Immers lost their round of 16 match against Brazil 2-0 yesterday after qualifying out of their pool in the men’s beach volleyball.
Van de Velde was convicted in 2016 of raping a 12-year-old girl from the Milton Keynes in the UK in 2014 and received a four-year sentence.
However, the athlete only served 12 months of the sentence before he was released.
The 29-year-old stirred up plenty of controversary when he qualified for the Olympics and was allowed to compete.
The volleyball player has been booed persistently when serving by crowds and has faced many calls from victims, advocates, lawmakers, and fans to be banned from the Olympics.
However, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) does not have the power to do so.
Although Van de Velde has remained silent throughout his time in Paris, his partner Matthew Immers has spoken to the press and admitted they both shed a tear after being knocked out.
He said: “It was an emotional roller coaster. I see it that way. We fought. We enjoyed every moment. So I’m really proud of that.
“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.”
“It was the coolest stadium I ever played in… I’m sad that we couldn’t show our level. But everything around it, I enjoyed it.”
Asked about Van de Velde, he said: “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.”
Immers shrugged off the criticism saying that he will be continuing together for the upcoming European Championships in their native Netherlands.
He said: “We still got a ninth on our first Olympics. And I’m proud of that. And we keep on going.”
