Dutch convicted child rapist would not be welcome on Australian team, says Meares
By Tom Decent
Paris: A convicted child rapist on the Netherlands Olympic team would not have been selected for Australia, according to chef de mission Anna Meares.
The Dutch Olympic Committee has allowed Steven van de Velde to represent the Netherlands in beach volleyball despite being sentenced to four years jail for raping a 12-year-old girl when he was 19.
The International Olympic Committee has said it is up to individual countries to determine who they select.
Meares, Australia’s chef de mission, was asked about the issue on Monday in Paris at a press conference featuring two Australian beach volleyball players, Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho del Solar.
“If an athlete or staff member had that conviction, they would not be allowed to be a member of our team,” Meares said.
“We have very stringent policies around safeguarding within our team and we have full confidence in those policies and the training we put our staff and athletes through.
Steven van de Velde pleaded guilty to three charges of rape in England and served time in prison before being deported.Credit: AP
“We do have a number of athletes under 18 and 16, so those policies are well in action to safeguard our team.”
Van de Velde was convicted of three counts of rape of a minor in 2016 by a British court. He was sentenced to four years jail but only served 13 months.
The 29-year-old, who has been competing in beach volleyball since 2017, has expressed his remorse and according to the Dutch Olympic Committee has undergone assessments and counselling since 2018.
Van de Velde will not stay in the Olympic village and has reportedly been given an exemption to not speak to media during competition.
Paris 2024 Olympics Australian Chef de Mission Anna MearesCredit: James Brickwood
Netherlands chef de mission Pieter van den Hoogenband, who famously beat Ian Thorpe in the men’s 200m freestyle final at Sydney 2000, addressed the issue with Dutch television networks.
He said he was “surprised at the agitation”.
“He’s not going to downplay it [his conviction]. We have to respect that and help him as a member of the team to be able to perform,” van den Hoogenband told broadcaster NOS.
“He has been active in international sport and the world of beach volleyball for a long time. He has participated in World Cups, European Championships and World Cups, but you see that around the Games it is different. Things are amplified around the Games. We have taken good steps together. All the athletes are dear to me and I try to support them.”
International Olympic Committee spokesperson Mark Adams said last week: “They have put out a statement, they’ve made it very clear there’s a lot of safeguarding going on.”
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