Steven van de Velde, the Dutch beach volleyball player who served time in prison for rape, received a mixture of boos and applause when he was introduced before losing his opening match on Sunday at the Paris Olympics.
Van de Velde was convicted in 2016 of having sex with a 12-year-old girl in England. His record resurfaced last month when he qualified for the Olympics as one of the top two Dutch teams on the international tour.
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.
There were no other signs of protest at the match, which came on the first sunny day at the Olympics’ iconic venue at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. Security was no different than it was on Saturday when the competition started. Most of the crowd’s attention was focused on the crowd-pleasing antics of Italy’s Adrian Carambula, whose Skyball serve spun high above the Olympic rings adorning the arena’s roof.
Carambula flexed for the fans as he and Alex Ranghieri rallied from a 20-17 deficit, winning five straight points to claim the first set. The Dutch were able to close out the second on their first set point, winning 21-19.
Trailing 13-11 in the third set, Van de Velde served into the net. The Dutch closed to 14-13, but Carambula dinked one past Immers to win it.
Van de Velde’s next match is on Wednesday, against Chile.
The International Volleyball Federation said it was powerless to stop the Netherlands from sending Van de Velde to Paris after he qualified in the usual way. Van de Velde, who is not staying at the athlete’s village and has not been available to the media, said after earning his Olympic berth that the incident was “the biggest mistake of my life.”
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