Olympics 2024: Convicted rapist Van de Velde booed at debut - ESPN

Convicted rapist Steven van de Velde was booed on Sunday as he made his debut at the Paris Olympics in the beach volleyball competition.

Van de Velde, the Dutch athlete who served time in prison for rape, received a mixture of boos and applause when he was introduced before losing his opening match to Italy.

Van de Velde was sentenced to four years in prison in Britain in 2016 following the rape of a 12-year-old girl two years earlier when he was 19.

After serving part of his sentence there, he was transferred to the Netherlands and has been competing in beach volleyball again since 2017.

Van de Velde was greeted with only a handful of boos when he first took the sand for warmups, but the hooting was louder for the more formal pre-match introduction. His teammate Matthew Immers — and all the other players appearing at the Eiffel Tower Stadium so far in the Summer Games — received nothing but cheers.

The International Olympic Committee said on Saturday it was satisfied with explanations given by the Netherlands Olympic team regarding the participation of Van de Velde.

IOC spokesperson Mark Adams said the committee was not totally comfortable with the situation but that «a crime occurred 10 years ago, a great deal of rehabilitation has taken place and strong safeguarding is in place.»

The Dutch team have taken steps to mitigate the impact of Van de Velde's participation by moving him to alternative accommodation in Paris and not the athletes' village. There has also been a ban imposed on him talking to the media.

Van de Velde's next match is on Wednesday, against Chile.

Information from The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.