Steven van de Velde [Source: Reuters]

There were boos, and mixed feelings amongst the crowd, as Netherlands beach volleyball player Steven van de Velde, a convicted rapist, made his Paris 2024 debut for a game in bright sunshine at the feet of the Eiffel tower.

His team, however, were unapologetic about van de Velde taking part in the Olympics, saying “the past is in the past” and that the matter should not be brought up at the Games.

Van de Velde was sentenced to four years in prison in Britain in 2016 following the rape of a 12-year-old girl two years earlier when he was 19.

He spent 13 months in prison – one year in Britain and one month in the Netherlands – before being freed there after what he did was re-classified under Dutch law as a lesser offence of “committing indecent acts” and his sentence was reduced.

Van de Velde has been competing in beach volleyball again since 2017.

He was booed several times during Sunday’s match, though there was also applause from other members of the crowd.

Among the spectators, Melissa Gautier, a 23-year-old health worker, said she thought van de Velde should not be there.

Andrea Syslos, a 47-year-old lawyer from Italy, did not know about the case, but when told about it said: “It’s not a good thing. Sporting justice should be harsher than civil justice.

But van de Velde’s teammate Matthew Immers brushed away the criticism over the now 29-year-old taking part in the Olympics.

John van Vliet, a press officer for the Netherlands team, said: “It’s something that shouldn’t be brought up through sports in a tournament that he qualified for.