- Steven Van de Velde traveled from the Netherlands to the UK to meet the girl
- He was jailed for four years, but was released after serving one year of his sentence.
- Former Olympian Paula Radcliffe has wished him “good luck” in Paris
BBC commentator and Olympian Paula Radcliffe has wished luck to a Dutch paedophile who raped a 12-year-old girl.
The former world and European athletics champion, who was in Paris for the broadcast, made the astonishing comment during a radio interview.
Beach volleyball player Steven Van de Velde, now 29, was sentenced to four years in prison in 2016 after pleading guilty to raping a 12-year-old British girl when he was 19.
Her inclusion in the team has sparked controversy and security has been tightened at the Dutch team’s base in the athletes’ village.
However, Radcliffe rejected claims that Van de Velde should not compete.
Former British star Paula Radcliffe has wished Steven Van de Velde the “best of luck” at the Olympics
Dutch Olympic beach volleyball player Van de Velde was jailed for child rape in 2016
“It’s very difficult to punish him (van de Velde) twice, and if he has managed to successfully turn his life around after being sent to prison and qualify and play sport at the highest level, then I really wish him the best of luck,” he told LBC.
The BBC has been contacted for comment.
Radcliffe was also caught up in the scandal surrounding dressage star Charlotte Dujardin, who was suspended for six months and withdrawn from the Games after footage emerged of her repeatedly whipping a horse in a training session.
Speaking on Tonight with Andrew Marr, the retired long-distance runner also bizarrely said that while she found it “distressing” to watch the video of Charlotte Dujardin whipping her horse, she could relate “to both sides, particularly if that’s what happens all the time with dressage”.
Responding to an X user who called her comments “shocking”, she said: “I agree and can only apologize, that’s not what I meant. I stress that it’s not something that can be excused in any way. I was confused in my head and responded to the right to expel him from the Games and I don’t know why I wished him luck. Again I apologize.”