steven van de velde was named in the country's beach volleyball tea m despite serving prison time forustralia's olympics team says they wouldn't have followed their dutch counterparts in picking van de velde, who's now 29, and was sentenced to four years in prison in 2016, after pleading guilty to raping a 12—year—old british girl when he was 19. after serving 12 months of a four—year sentence he resumed his career and is travelling to paris. if an athlete or a staff member had that conviction they would not be allowed to be a member of our team. we have very stringent policies around safeguarding within our team and we have full confidences in those policies and the training that we have put our staff and our fleets through to have we have a number of athletes under 18 and under 16 so those policies are well in action for the safeguarding of our team. the netherlands olympic committee, in responding to van de velde�*s initial selection said his return to the sport had met their guidelines and that he'd shown self—insight and reflection since his release having undergone counselling.

steven van de velde will compete in the beach volleyball on sunday.hresholds, checks and due diligence. but the decision to allow him to take part has attracted widespread criticism. anna holligan sent this report from amsterdam. steven van der velde has risen to international prominence, but not for his sporting prowess. this convicted child rapist presence in paris was approved by the dutch olympic committee. their delegation hadn't anticipated it would ignite such controversy. translation: it surprised me, and i think that he's dealing - with it in a good and rational way. he's not going to trivialise it. i think we have to respect that, and we have to help him as a member of the team to focus on his sport. in 2014, steven van der velde flew from amsterdam to the uk and raped a 12—year—old girl he met online. in 2016, he admitted to three counts of rape against a child and was jailed for four years. but after serving 12 months in prison, he was allowed to return to the netherlands to serve the remainder of his sentence back home, and was granted a

we want to ask you about stephen van de velde? i'm not going to comment. um...ed that a raper, as a supporter, is now playing the beach volleyball tournament. he should not be allowed to play. are you aware of his story? yes, lam. i think it's no longer an issue. do you think it was right he was selected for the olympics? of course, because he has been punished and now it is over and he can continue with his life. controversy aside, the beach volleyball is taking place today, as it is at the skateboarding as well. we have seen the rowers in action and also the artistic gymnasts, both the women's team, gb, america, and it has been really busy day of sport, which will get even busier. tomorrow, we will have 19 gold medals up for grabs, so as the weather hots up here in paris, the sporting action is hotting up as well and the temperature is supposed to be hitting about 35 celsius or 31t by about tuesday, which will be really, really hot, especially for a lot of the outdoor events here in france. it will be interesting to see how it all pans out over the next few da

we want to ask you about steven van de velde. i'm not going to comment.upport matthew immers. i'm very astonished that a raper, as a supporter, is now playing i the beach volleyball tournament. yeah, they should be not allowed to play. i are you aware of his story? yes, iam. i think it's... i think it's no longer an issue. you think it was right he was selected for the olympics? of course, because he's been punished, or... yeah? and now, it's over and he can continue with his life. well, controversy aside, the beach volleyball is taking place today, as is the skateboarding as well. we've seen the rowers in action. we've also seen the artistic gymnasts, both the women's team, the gb team, the american team as well. it's been a really busy day of sport and it's going to get even busier tomorrow. tomorrow, we're going to have 19 gold medals up for grabs. so as the weather hots up here in paris, the sporting action is starting as well. and the temperature here is supposed to be hitting about 35 degrees or 3a degrees by about tuesday. that's going to be really

convicted child rapist steven van de velde made his olympic beach volleyball debut on sunday, to a mixedst 2—1 to italy's alex ranghieri and adrian carambula at the eiffel tower stadium earlier. his playing partner immers, speaking after the match, says he feels it was right that van de velde could compete at the games. we talked about it one time and we want to enjoy every moment on this stage because we qualified for it, we gave everything together for the past three years, two years, to qualify. i am really happy about it, that we can stand here and show, ok, next match we will give everything. you believe it is right that he is here at the olympics? yes, of course. we qualified. we gave two years, everything for it. i think it is right. the final race before formula one's summer break produced thrilling drama with britain's george russell beating compatriot and mercedes team mate lewis hamilton at the belgian grand prix. ferrari's charles leclerc started from pole after max verstappen was handed a ten place grid penalty for using too many engines this season. three laps from the star

convicted child rapist steven van de velde made his 0lympic beach volleyball debut on sunday, to a mixedthew immers lost 2—1 to italy's alex ranghieri and adrian carambula at the eiffel tower stadium earlier. his playing partner immers, speaking after the match, says he feels it was right that van de velde could compete at the games. we talked about it one time and we want to enjoy every moment on this stage because we qualified for it, we gave everything together for the best three years, two use, to qualify. i am best three years, two use, to qualify. iam really best three years, two use, to qualify. i am really happy about it, that we can stand here and so, next match we will give everything. you believe it is — match we will give everything. you believe it is right that he is here at the olympics?— believe it is right that he is here at the olympics? yes, of course. we uualified. at the olympics? yes, of course. we qualified- we — at the olympics? yes, of course. we qualified. we gave _ at the olympics? yes, of course. we qualified. we gave two _ at the olympics? yes, of course. we q

convicted child rapist steven van de velde made his 0lympic beach volleyball debut on sunday, to a mixed boos. he and volleyball partner matthew immers lost 2—1 to italy's alex ranghieri and adrian carambula at the eiffel tower stadium earlier. his playing partner immers, speaking after the match, says he feels it was right that van de velde could compete at the games. we talked about it one time and we want to enjoy every moment on this stage because we qualified for it, we gave everything together for the past three years, two years, to qualify. i am really happy about it, that we can stand here and say, ok, next match we will give everything. you believe it is right that he is here at the olympics? yes, of course. we qualified. we gave two years, everything for it. i think it is right. to football, and manchester united face an anxious wait to discover the extent of injuries suffered by rasmus hojlund and new signing leny yoro as pre—season preparations continue. hojlund had scored in united's 2—1 defeat by arsenal in the opening match of their us tour in los angeles, but suffered a m

convicted child rapist steven van de velde made his olympic beach volleyball debut on sunday, to a mixed to italy's alex ranghieri and adrian carambula at the eiffel tower stadium earlier. his playing partner immers, speaking after the match, says he feels it was right that van de velde could compete at the games. we talked about it one time and we want to enjoy every moment on this stage because we qualified for it, we gave everything together for the best three years, two use, to qualify. for the past three years, two years, to qualify. i am really happy about it, that we can stand here and so, that we can stand here and say, ok, next match we will give everything. you believe it is right that he is here at the olympics? yes, of course. we qualified. we gave two years, everything for it. i think it is right. day three of the third test is just under way at edgbaston where england are looking for a 3—0 series win over west indies. the tourists, who started the day on 33—2, are currently 168—7 in their second innings — and now lead by 7a runs. england with potential to win it on day thre

convicted child rapist steven van de velde made his olympic debut to a mixed reaction in paris earlier here's our sports news correspondent laura scott. rarely has an athlete's selection for an olympics been quite as controversial as that of steven van der velde. the dutch beach volleyball player was sentenced to four years in prison in 2016 after admitting three counts of rape against a 12—year—old british girl. he has been back competing since 2017, but it's his participation here at the olympic games that has drawn worldwide attention and severe backlash. it has led to pressure on authorities the international olympic committee to intervene. but they've said it's nothing to do with them, that an athlete's selection is solely down to the national olympic committee. and van der velde is backed by the dutch national olympic committee. but this was the reaction when he was introduced to the crowd here at the eiffel tower stadium. crowd b00 that reaction that you heard there, the mixture of audible boos and applause, reflected the varying views of those outside on their way in to the sta

well, there was controversy earlier today when the dutch beach volleyball player steven van de velde,he was sentenced to four years in prison in 2016, after admitting to raping a 12—year—old british girl. his inclusion in the games has been criticised, but the dutch olympic committee insist he's been successfully rehabilitated. kemi badenoch has announced in the last hour that she is standing to be the next leader of the conservative party. the former business secretary is the sixth person to enter the leadership race as she joins other tory mps, priti patel, mel stride, tom tugendhat, robertjenrick and james cleverly. nominations close tomorrow afternoon, though the winner won't be known until november. the former home secretary suella braverman says she won't be standing. our political correspondent, helen catt has more on this. two big figures, two figures both on the right of the party as well. so the right of the party as well. so the reasons they have given. kemi badenoch was always widely expected to run in this leadership race. she ran in the contest to succeed boris johnson a

elsewhere at the games today — controversy at the men's beach volleyball as the dutch player steven van de velden 2016, but was selected for the dutch team. fans outside the venue gave their reaction to his inclusion at the games. can i ask about stephen vande velde? i'm not going to comment. yeah, well, i don'tl want to answer that question. sorry. will you support him today? i will support matthew immers. i'm very astonished that a rape, as a that a raper, as a supporter, is playing the beach volleyball tournament. he should not be allowed to play. are you aware of the story? yes. i think it's no longer an issue. do you think it's right he was selected for the olympics? of course because he has been punished — of course because he has been punished and now it is over and he can continue — punished and now it is over and he can continue with his life. we heard from our reporters who are there that there were some boos among the applause as he came out. more on that on the website. the games here in paris are the 33rd modern olympiad which have produced countless numbers of ups and downs which h

on national radio, radcliffe made the comments about netherlands beach volleyball player steven van de veldeit so badly. i think in my head by "dangerous line" i meant allowing him into the games when it is against all the olympic ideals but i didn�*t say this out loud." england have named an unchanged line up for the third and final test against the west indies which gets under way at edgbaston tomorrow morning. england took an unnassailable 2—0 lead after an impressive victory in the second test at lords off the back of hundreds from centuries from ollie pope, harry brook and joe root as well as a third five—wicket haul for spinner shoaib bashir. we are 2—0 up, very good all—round performances so pretty easy decision to spritz the max stick with the same 11 and we went to wrap up the series and hopefully take up 3—0. arsenal 15—0, it went to the dreaded penalties. —— arsenal 15—0 so it went to the dreaded penalties. we have a very different context today with so many young players, most of them making their debuts for us so really pleased to see them. just looking at their faces and the en

steven van de velde, who's named in the netherlands beach volleyball squad, was sentenced to four years was selected injune for the dutch olympic team. in a statement, radcliffe says... well, despite the games not formally opening until tomorrow, there has been some action already today. ireland will face fiji in the quarterfinals of the paris olympics after being edged out by new zealand14—12. ireland had a 12—point lead at half—time, but mcgarvey—black�*s converted score on the buzzer gave the all blacks the win. south korea's lim si—hyeon has broken the first world record of the paris games. she hit a score of 694 out of 720 in the ranking round of the women's individual recurve archery event. that beat the previous best of 692 from her compatriot kang chae—young. and in the women's football, spain beatjapan by two goals to one. japan did take the lead in nantes through aoba fujino, but an equaliser from aitana bonmati and then this goal from mariona caldentey turned the game around. it's not all about the olympics. england's third and final test against west indies gets under way to

van de velde spoke out against the promised appeal to the sports court, apparently for violating thethlete to compete in beach volleyball. smashed to smithereens, even his own lawyer and newspaper headlines described him as a sex monster, this is essentially the end of a career. and now, 8 years later, he has not only achieved impressive results as a volleyball player, but has also been selected to participate in olympic games in paris. and not everyone sees this as a problem. the netherlands, on the contrary, stated that they fully support his participation. they say that he has changed, that he is married and is the father of a child. and that's where the story ends. however, in one interview, he in no way ... showed not only repentance, he stated that it was wrong to label him a pedophile. yes, a shocking incident, this is a serious moral issue. is there room for reintegration and rehabilitation? this is a matter for the dutch olympic committee. could have nothing to do with it. the dutch obviously believe that there is no reason to refuse, now they have done what they have done.