NOS Sport•gisteren, 12:19
Van de Velde: ‘The fuss was heavy and unfortunate, but understanding for the opinions of others’
“I definitely had a moment of breaking down, both before the tournament and during it. But I thought: I’m not going to give others the power to bully me away or get me away,” says Steven van de Velde.
The much-discussed beach volleyball player is speaking to the press for the first time since the Paris Olympics. His past – he was convicted eight years ago for having sex with a twelve-year-old girl – was extensively raked up during the tournament.
He expected there to be controversy, but the scale of it surprised him. “It’s certainly not nothing that’s being fired at you.”
“I think it’s a shame,” he says about the fuss. “It’s been ten years, I’ve played more than a hundred tournaments.” But he also understands. “I understand that it’s an issue: should someone with such a past be allowed to stand on such a podium. That’s a legitimate question.”
How does he see it himself? “Someone can hold me responsible for what happened forever. That’s okay, someone has the right to do that, but I try to focus on what I can influence.” Later he adds: “I know this will play a role for the rest of my life. I have to accept that, because I made a mistake.”
Outside village
For that reason, he suggested that he sleep outside the Olympic village. Not that there was a threat that something would happen to him, he says. But: “I wanted to create peace for myself and other athletes.”
AFPSteven van de Velde at the Paris Games
He speaks thoughtfully and in a calm voice about his experiences in Paris – which does not mean that it does not affect him. The 30-year-old athlete still has to process it all. A week of rest at home was not enough for that and tomorrow the European Beach Volleyball Championships will start again for him in Scheveningen, Arnhem and Apeldoorn. The fact that he has a stable environment helps him.
“I’m not that teenager anymore. I’m thirty now, married, have a child, I have a very nice life. Impressions from others, from social media don’t matter anymore. But if I had been twenty, it would have been a completely different situation.”
Impact
Still, it had an impact on his game, he admits. Van de Velde and Matthew Immers lost in the round of 16. “When I think about how much I was busy with peripheral matters… It had an impact.”
He did try to shut himself off from it. “I also discussed it with my wife and asked people not to forward things to me. But I still got expressions of support, ‘shit for you, stay strong’. That’s very sweet, but it kept me occupied for a while.”
Before the Games, Chef de Mission Pieter van den Hoogenband spoke out about the commotion surrounding Van de Velde’s Olympic participation:
Van den Hoogenband on Van de Velde: ‘Things are exaggerated around Games’
He talked about it with his sports psychologist, especially when the boos increased during the second match.
“I am aware that people are thinking about it. At the same time, I am also hearing more and more cheers. It doesn’t make much sense for me to attach a value judgment to it. It is certainly annoying, I am emotional about it. But I also think: that doesn’t make sense for now.”
He tried to mentally flip a switch. He asked himself: why am I doing this? “Ultimately it only makes you stronger as a person, that’s what I try to focus on.”
Although Immers and he had mutually decided that his beach volleyball partner would do the talking, this was not easy for Van de Velde.
“It was difficult and tough, certainly for Matthew, for family, friends, the association. I am being shielded, they are the victims, that is anything but nice.”
After the lost round of 16, Mathhew Immers spoke to the media:
Proud and emotional Immers: ‘It was so hard for us, all that booing’
Van de Velde feels “super well supported” by the NOC*NSF and by the volleyball association Nevobo. Yet the NOC*NSF remained silent during the Games. A big contrast with boxer Imane Khelif who was publicly defended by the Algerian association. Didn’t he find that association silence annoying?
“I didn’t experience that with the NOC*NSF. I thought in the statement that they stuck their necks out. They kept me out of the media, made me feel supported, they did that well.”
‘Intense experience’
Is he considering competing in the Olympics again? “It was an intense experience, one that I haven’t fully processed yet. The conclusion can certainly be: this is not worth it. Certainly also for my family, so I will certainly take their opinion into account.”
If the fuss doesn’t die down, could it also mean an untimely end for him? In other words, is the impact on his family – his wife and young son – more important than playing in the sand? “Yes, definitely.”
