Former British marathon runner Paula Radcliffe has said she is “mortified” that she wished “best of luck” to a convicted rapist competing at the Olympics.
Dutch beach volleyball player Steven Van de Velde was convicted in 2016 of raping a 12-year-old girl in England two years earlier. He was 19 years old at the time of the attack.
He served a year of his four-year sentence, after being transferred to a Dutch prison.
Van de Velde, now 29, was controversially selected to represent the Netherlands in the Paris Games, which start on Friday.
The Dutch Olympic committee has moved him away from the Olympic Village to alternative accommodation and banned him from speaking to the media during the games after a wave of criticism over his inclusion in the national team.
In an interview with LBC on Wednesday, the 2015 world marathon champion Radcliffe said that it was a “tough thing to punish him twice” and that she “wished him the best of luck”, drawing parallels with drug cheats who are given second chances in sport.
However, writing later on X, Ms Radcliffe said: “I am mortified that I expressed it so badly and didn’t condemn the rape out loud.”
Chaos at Olympic football match as VAR rules out Argentina goal two hours after game suspended
Paris 2024: Russian arrested on suspicion of plotting to destabilise Olympic Games
Olympics festival mood will ‘not be spoilt’ by rise of far-right, says Paris mayor
She said: “I do believe in second chances after serving punishment but think the Olympics should be for those who uphold the ideals (that’s why I poorly brought the doping comparison in).”
Read more:
Chaos at Olympic football match
Video shows Charlotte Dujardin whipping horse
Things you’ll see for the first time at the Paris Olympics
In other posts, Ms Radcliffe said: “I myself am shocked and disappointed at how I expressed this so badly” and “I really apologise for the way I phrased this. The utter condemnation of the crime in my head went without saying but I should have clarified that.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Be the first to get Breaking News
Install the Sky News app for free
“Instead I poorly jumped to explaining why it would be great to exclude all who betray ideals but legally not possible,” she posted.
Dutch Olympic bosses have defended their decision to pick Van de Velde who served part of his jail term in England, before he was sent back to the Netherlands to serve the remainder, where it was adjusted according to Dutch law.
The Dutch volleyball federation (Nevobo) said Van de Velde was “proving to be an exemplary professional and human being and there has been no reason to doubt him since his return”.
The Milton Keynes Citizen reported at the time of his sentencing that Van de Velde flew from Amsterdam to meet the schoolgirl after the pair started chatting online.
Appearing via video link at Aylesbury Crown Court, he wept as he heard his victim ended up self-harming and taking an overdose.
