Steven van de Velde, the Dutch beach volleyball player who was convicted of raping a 12-year-old British girl in 2016, was eliminated from the Paris Olympics on Sunday night when he and partner Matthew Immers lost to Brazil in straight sets.
In his fourth and final match, Van de Velde again was subjected to a steady stream of hoots and whistles each time he served the ball. On match point, with Van de Velde serving and the crowd jeering him, Evandro delivered the winning spike to win 21-16, 21-16 and end the Dutch team's stay at the Summer Games.
The teammates hugged, did the usual postmatch handshake with the opponents and the officials and then sat on the bench for a few minutes with an arm around each other’s shoulder. Van de Velde walked off waving to crowd, seeking out the orange-clad Dutch fans who were applauding among the others sending boos his way.
“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.”
As he has throughout the tournament, Van de Velde did not walk through the mix zone to speak to reporters, something typically required of all Olympians . Immers said his partner needed the 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 after his 2016 rape conviction in England. Although victims advocates, lawmakers and fans have called for him to be banned from the Olympics, the IOC has said it was powerless to stop the Netherlands from sending an athlete who qualified in the usual way.
Van de Velde rose from the players’ bench and waved to the crowd when he was introduced before the match, picking out the orange-clad Dutch fans who were applauding among the boos. Asked about the reaction from a usually positive crowd at Paris' liveliest and happiest venue, Evandro said, “We’re able to control what happens on our side of the net, not what happens on that side of the net.”
“That’s something that they have to to deal with," the three-time Olympian said.
The Dutch finished with a 1-2 record in pool play, winning the three-way tiebreaker because of a higher ratio of sets won and lost. But that left them with a round-of-16 matchup with Brazilians Evandro and Arthur, who have not lost a set in four matches at the Paris Games.
Immers said he and Van de Velde will remain a team, first with the European championships in the Netherlands the week after the Olympics, followed by the Dutch championships.
“We still got a ninth on our first Olympics. And I’m proud of that,” said Immers, who is 23. "And we keep on going.”
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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
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