Paula Radcliffe has apologised for wishing “good luck” to a convicted rapist when he competes for the Netherlands at the Paris Olympics next week.
The BBC pundit and four-time Olympian had suggested the beach volleyball player Steven van de Velde should not be punished twice after being convicted for raping a 12-year-old girl when he was 19.
Asked on the Andrew Marr Tonight show about outright bans at the Olympics, Radcliffe had suggested it was a “very dangerous line to go down”.
Radcliffe told Marr: “I know that he is married now and has settled down. I think it’s a tough thing to do to punish him twice and if he’s managed to successfully turn his life around after being sent to prison and to qualify and to be playing sport at the highest level, then I actually wish him the best of luck.”
After being criticised for her comments, Radcliffe admitted she had got it wrong. “I agree and can only apologise, that isn’t what I intended to say,” she said.
“I stress that it isn’t something that can be excused in any way. I was confused in my head and responding to the right to ban him from the Games and I don’t know why I wished him luck. Again I apologise.”
Van de Velde, now 29, was sentenced to four years in prison in 2016 after pleading guilty to raping the British girl. He had flown to England to meet her with full knowledge of her age, having met her on Facebook.
He was released after serving only 12 months at a Dutch prison and has since gone on to play internationally for the Netherlands. However, the decision to select him for the Olympics has been hugely controversial, with women’s groups in particular condemning the move.
The British Olympic Association would not have permitted Van der Velde’s inclusion in Team GB owing to its safeguarding rules and the Australian Olympic team confirmed that it had the same position.
However this week the Netherlands’ chef de mission, Pieter van den Hoogenband, said that he had been surprised by the negative reaction.
“He has been active in international sport, the beach volleyball world, for some time. He has played World Cups, European Championships and World Cups, but then you see that things are different around the Games. That things are exaggerated.”
