Steven van de Velde, the Dutch beach volleyball player convicted of raping a 12-year-old British girl in 2016, was eliminated from the Paris Olympics on Sunday night when he and his partner Matthew Immers lost to Brazil in straight sets.
During his final match, Van de Velde faced constant jeering and whistles from the crowd every time he served the ball.
With match point on the line, Van de Velde served amid the crowd’s boos, and Evandro scored the winning point, ending the match 21-16, 21-16 and finishing the Dutch team’s Olympic journey.
After the match, the teammates hugged, exchanged handshakes with opponents and officials, and then sat together on the bench, arms around each other. Van de Velde walked off waving to the crowd, acknowledging the Dutch fans who were cheering amid the mixed reactions.
“It was an emotional roller coaster. I see it that way,” Immers said. “We fought. We enjoyed every moment. So I’m really proud of that.
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.”
Van de Velde did not go through the mix zone to speak to reporters, which is usually required of Olympians. Immers mentioned that his partner needed mental rest.
“If I can speak for him, after the match we lost, we were disappointed,” Immers said. “But we said to each other: ‘Look what we did together. Look how hard we fought with all the attention.’
We stayed together. 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.”
Van de Velde, 29, served 13 months in prison following his 2016 rape conviction in England. Although some advocates, lawmakers, and fans have called for him to be banned from the Olympics, the IOC stated it could not prevent the Netherlands from sending an athlete who qualified in the usual manner.
