PARIS– The Dutch Olympian who was convicted in 2016 of raping a 12-year-old girl in England advanced to the knockout stages of the beach volleyball tournament on Friday despite a defeat in the final game of snooker.
Steven van de Velde and Matthew Immers will play in the round of 16 on Sunday or Monday. An opponent has not been determined.
Van de Velde, 29, served 13 months in prison after being convicted of rape in 2016. Although victim advocates, lawmakers and fans called for him to be banned from the Olympics, the IOC said it was powerless to stop the Netherlands to send an athlete who qualified in the usual way.
Van de Velde again did not pass through the mixed zone to address the media on Friday, something normally required of all Olympic athletes. Immers said his partner’s mood was good.
“We are doing our best and we are very happy at the end of the match. So we said to each other, ‘OK, do we seize this moment?’” Immers said. “We knew before the game that we gave everything and we said to each other, ‘Yes, we gave everything.’ And that’s what we want to do in every game, give everything and play our game.”
The Dutch lost in straight sets to Tokyo gold medalists Anders Mol and Christian Sorum on Friday, with fans again booing and hissing in Van de Velde on each serve. Norway’s 21-16, 21-19 victory was sealed when Van de Velde served long on match point, drawing boos and whistles from the crowd.
The Dutch finished with a 1-2 record in group play, winning the three-way tiebreaker due to the higher proportion of sets won and lost.
“We lost the match, but we are second in the group,” said Immers. “It was against the Norwegians, so we lost narrowly. But overall, I think we played really well.”
In other action at the Eiffel Tower Stadium on Friday, Americans Chase Budinger and Miles Evans lost to Spain in straight sets to finish third in their group. They will need to win a “lucky loser” match to reach the round of 16.
The North American women’s team formed by Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes beat Germany in the last match of the night, also in straight sets. The reigning world champions won their group with a 3-0 record; the other US women’s team, Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth, also finished 3-0 and advanced to the knockout stage as group winners.
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