Anna Meares: No Convicted Rapists on Australian Olympic Team

Anna Meares, the chief of the Australian Olympic team stated that Australia would not select a convicted rapist for its team, following the inclusion of Steven van de Velde in the Netherlands beach volleyball squad for the Paris 2024 Olympics. Van de Velde, now 29, received a four-year prison sentence in 2016 for raping a 12-year-old British girl when he was 19. He traveled from Amsterdam to Milton Keynes where he committed the crime after meeting the victim on Facebook.

Van de Velde served just 12 months of his sentence before resuming his volleyball career. In June, the Dutch Olympic Committee selected him for the Dutch Olympic team despite his serious past conviction. The Dutch Olympic Committee (NOC) addressed the controversy by explaining that Van de Velde received professional counseling after his release and showed self-insight and reflection.

The NOC assured that his return to the sport met the Dutch Volleyball Federation’s “Guidelines Integrity Record,” which sets conditions for athletes to resume competition after a conviction. Although Anna Meares did not comment on the selection of athletes by other teams, she emphasized that Australia follows strict policies against including individuals with such convictions. “If an athlete or staff member had that conviction, we would not allow them to be a member of our team,” Meares said, underlining the Australian team’s stringent safeguarding policies.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) pointed out that individual national committees manage athlete selection. Reports indicate that the Dutch Olympic team will not place Van de Velde in the athletes’ village in Paris but will arrange alternative accommodation for him. Van de Velde’s selection has drawn criticism from women’s safety groups, who argue against his inclusion given his past.