The Dutch beach volleyball player who served time in prison for rape received a mixture of boos and applause when he was introduced before his opening match at the Paris Games.

Steven van de Velde, the Dutch beach volleyball player who served time in prison for rape, received a mixture of boos and applause when he was introduced before his opening match on Sunday at the Paris Games.

Van de Velde was greeted with only a handful of boos when he first took the sand for warmups, but the hooting was louder for the more formal pre-match introduction. His teammate Matthew Immers – and all the other players appearing at the Eiffel Tower Stadium so far in the Summer Games – received nothing but cheers.

  • @Viking_HippieEnglish
    13•1 month ago

    I’m no expert, but as far as I know it’s in the “technically possible but so unlikely that it’s a ridiculous defense” category.

    Like when then-superstar of cycling Alberto Contador* tested positive for the main indicator of blood transfusion doping and blamed eating a rare steak 🤦😄

    *I love that his name sounds super cool in the original Spanish, but if you translate it to English he’s “Albert (the) Accountant” 😂