THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch beach volleyball player Steven van de Velde, who was convicted of raping a 12-year-old British girl in 2016, said Tuesday that he considered quitting the Paris Olympics amid the controversy surrounding his participation.
Van de Velde and his partner Matthew Immers reached the quarterfinals in Paris, where they lost to Brazil in straight sets. The pair played four matches in the tournament and Van de Velde was repeatedly subjected to a stream of hoots and whistles.
Asked in an interview with Dutch national broadcaster NOS if he thought about quitting, Van de Velde said that he considered it both before and during the Olympics, but ultimately decided to compete.
“I thought, ‘I don’t want that. I’m not going to give others the power to decide they can bully me away or get rid of me,’” he said told NOS in Dutch.
Van de Velde did not speak to reporters during the Olympics.
He served 13 months in prison after his 2016 rape conviction in England. Although victims advocates, lawmakers and fans called for him to be banned from the Olympics, the IOC said it was powerless to stop the Netherlands from sending an athlete who qualified in the usual way.
