Journalists continue to ask many questions about the participation of beach volleyball player Steven van de Velde

Bauction, finished. Theatrically gesticulating with his hands, the Italian Alex Ranghieri walks through the mixed zone. He’s done with it. Done with the incessant stream of questions he gets about the opponents he just defeated in the Olympic beach volleyball tournament. He doesn’t want to say anything more about Matthew Immers and Steven van de Velde in particular. “I only talk about ball“ he says, before striding toward the exit.

There was little talk about beach volleyball on Sunday morning after the group match between the Italian and Dutch duo. No one asked about the beautiful location at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. Or about Adrian Carambula’s striking banana service, which hit the ball meters high into the air every time. Or about the course of the match that the Italians had won with two sets to one.

Yet there were dozens of international journalists in the mixed zone. Americans, Britons, French, a Dane, a Finn, a Norwegian and a Brazilian; they were all there for the man who would not pass: Steven van de Velde.

Van de Velde was sentenced to four years in prison in 2016 for having sex with an underage girl two years earlier. When it happened, the beach volleyball player was nineteen, the girl twelve. As a result, it was rape according to the law, regardless of whether the girl had consented or not. During the trial, Van de Velde pleaded guilty.

Van de Velde spent twelve months in a British prison before being transferred to the Netherlands. There, his conviction under Dutch criminal law was commuted from rape to indecent assault, his sentence was reduced, and he was released a month later. He has since resumed his beach volleyball career. He got married two years ago and is now the father of a son.

Measures

A month and a half ago, Van de Velde and his teammate Immers managed to qualify for the Games. That was the moment that the international press got wind of his past, especially in the United Kingdom. After that, the pressure on Van de Velde, the sports association NOC-NSF and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) grew to do something about the situation. Because does a convicted sex offender belong at the Olympic Games?

The beach volleyball player and NOC-NSF decided in consultation to take measures to create peace: Van de Velde was accommodated outside the Olympic village and is being kept away from the press. NOC-NSF also issued a statement in which it states that it “understands the impact for many [betreurt] as a result of the renewed attention for the past” by Van de Velde.

Steven van de Velde (left) and Matthew Immers on Sunday during their first group match of the Olympic beach volleyball tournament. Photo Koen van Weel/ANP

But the attention for Van de Velde continued to grow and NOC-NSF, which often struggles with the approach to sensitive issues, dug in further. Chef de mission Pieter van den Hoogenband expressed his surprise about the commotion, because Van de Velde had already participated in World Cup competitions, European Championships and World Championships after 2017. He did not seem to have realized that the Games and the associated attention were of a different order. For all questions he referred to the statement the NOC-NSF had instead spread.

However, the sports association continued to support Van de Velde’s participation; he had met all the conditions. The IOC also expressed its support, although not wholeheartedly. “To describe it as comfortable would not be correct,” said a spokesman.

applause

Under those circumstances, Van de Velde made his entrance on Sunday morning together with Immers in the temporary stadium next to the Eiffel Tower. When the duo, dressed in blue and orange, enter the sandbox, there is a bit of booing. A few people whistle, and there is also applause. Van de Velde starts serving. When he starts his run-up, there is a few ‘boos’, but Van de Velde calmly hits the ball over the net, walks forward and blocks the Italians’ effort. The first point is in.

A few points later the whistles have disappeared and a nice block by Van de Velde results in applause. Those who entered the stadium a little later do not realize that one of the most talked about athletes of the Games is busy here. The first set goes to the Italians, the second is for the Dutch and in the third set the Italian duo decides the match.

Practical implications

Afterwards, the journalists jostle each other under a tree-lined gallery on the Champs-de-Mars. Dozens of recording devices are turned on when Immers appears. He is the one who is allowed to respond to the media storm on behalf of the duo.

Immers sighs deeply. “It’s not nice, of course, but it does make sense in a way. It happened in the past, but it can always come up again.” He hadn’t heard any boos, he says, and he’s mainly annoyed by the defeat.

But Immers cannot deny that all the fuss has affected Van de Velde and him. “It was difficult to deal with all those questions,” he says. In addition, there are practical implications, because Immers does sleep in the Olympic village. “We try to visit each other outside the village as much as possible. To train, to watch match footage. It is important that we stay together, that we do this together.”

Immers and the press officer of ‘TeamNL’ do not go into the situation any further. “We do not want the discussion about Steven’s past to be held here next to the stadium,” says the spokesperson.

Despite everything, Immers enjoyed his Olympic debut, he says. “It’s still a dream come true.” He tells how Van de Velde and he cried together for five minutes when they heard they were going to Paris. “Steven is also very happy about this,” says Immers. “But we really want to win another game.”

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