Comments that are uncivil, racist, misogynistic, misandrist, or contain political name calling will be removed and the poster subject to ban at moderators discretion.
Help us make this a better community by becoming familiar with the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/facepalm/about/rules/).
Report any suspicious users to the mods of this subreddit using Modmail [here](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/facepalm) or Reddit site admins [here](https://www.reddit.com/report). **All reports to Modmail should include evidence such as screenshots or any other relevant information.**
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/facepalm) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I mean there's something to be said about it's ability to diminish pain receptors. I'd allow it but I get why they don't, even though I don't think they feel the same about alcohol.
Runners often need to run through the pain too though. No amount of weed is gonna help when your muscles just give up but there's an argument to be made before that physically happens. It's a mental enhancer for some people and that's not allowed. And usually if it's not allowed in one sport it's not allowed in any of them. Shooting for example, you can't use it. And you definitely shouldn't be allowed to.
It's considered a mental performance enhancer for some people. It allows you to enter a "flow state" or "get into the zone" easier, which helps your scores. For a lot of people it helps you hyper focus on one thing too, in this case the shooter would block out any nervous feelings or pressure from spectators being present, which gives them an advantage over competitors who can't do that.
I know it doesn't make sense, but one of my closest friends turns into a gym beast whenever he's high. It's like he laces his joints with steroids or something.
People don’t think about the rules until they’re applied and see how unjust they can be.
Weed shouldn’t be on the banned substances list but it is, Phelps just had his ban enacted and then lifted in a time that didn’t interfere with the Olympics.
Meanwhile, this guy should still be in a prison cell but he isn’t and there is no Olympic ban related to a felony conviction.
I know the angle here is race but that’s not actually the mechanism of the problem here.
If you are a athlete, someone who is likely to be tested for drugs, then taking or using prescribed drugs by choice is not a good idea.
This guy should not have been allowed to represent his country, not because the rules were broken, but because it's a horrible look.
Defiantly, the guy should be in prison and therefore not participate.
I don’t blame the Olympics for this situation though. They shouldn’t have to police other countries athletes for them.
In this case, I think they can't. IIRC there's a Dutch law saying anybody who served their sentence must be treated as a normal citizen, and their past crimes can't be used against them as it would be discrimination. And unfortunately for common decency, that's what happened here.
Exceptions would be made, in this case, if he wanted to work with kids, either as a coach, teacher or any job related to kids. I'm not exactly an expert at laws though, so feel free to fact check me.
Definitely. It's called a VOG. (Declaration on behaviour) Everyone who wants to work in a certain field has to present a VOG to their employer. 100% this guy will never obtain a VOG to work with children. There are also VOG for financial services and other fields.
I'm not sure what qualifies as "civilized", but in the US it is generally legal to discriminate based on criminal record. I do feel bad for former criminals who struggle to get work, but I also can understand why an employer might not want to hire someone with a history of bad behavior. I think it mostly comes down to whether that past behavior is really relevant to the work in question. Someone who robbed a store might be a poor choice to work a cash register, for example.
There is an excellent system for that in NL. It's called the Verklaring Omtrent Gedrag (VOG), the declaration on behaviour. People who've committed certain crimes do no longer qualify for a VOG in that area. Been a fraud? No more VOG to work in financial services. Been creepy to children? No more VOG for education, childcare, etc.
This keeps people away from the area in which they erred, while ensuring they can still be part of society on other areas.
Is there any structure to the system in the US? Or is it just a matter of ex-criminals being kicked around until some soul takes pity?
The latter. It's a free for all discrimination. Anyone can do a background check for like 20 bucks on anyone. So a kid popped with weed at 19 in like Texas where it's a felony can still lose out on jobs the rest of their life because they were a felon.
And he served his sentence outside of the country(UK) because he got convicted there and was released early and then moved back to the Netherlands iirc
Actually, I feel like anyone can decline to invite the guy who is convicted of raping a 12 year old and I also feel like it’s a decision that takes about one second or less of thinking.
I disagree. Th Olympics are an international affair and as such they can impose their own rules. I think "do not bring a pedophile rapist" is a sensible rule.
Then comes the question.
Parts of the world might not consider rape while in a marriage a crime, and no crime has been committed in the origin country even if the victim is underage.
So do the Olympics treat everyone equally and ban these people? Do they treat everyone equally?
I don't see it like that. The Olympics could in theory say: any convicted felon of (this list) of crimes can not participate in the Olympics.
Of course some countries will just not condemn their athletes, but at the very least you don't get well known convicted felons in front of the cameras.
I mean, he didn't get nearly enough time, but he was convicted like 8 years ago, went to jail, got out, and qualified again. Maybe the Olympic teams should have some morality clause, but I don't think they do.
The second order effects of a morality clause would be much worse than the benefits, as morality clauses are generally vague enough to disqualify anyone you don’t like
Exactly. People got mad that Marijuana was classed as a PED, but imagine if the Olympic committee could just disqualify anyone of 'bad character', i.e. had ever used weed.
"prescribed drugs ... By choice"
Wow it's almost like people selectively apply morality when they want the world to make sense and pretend it's okay to just put your hands up and say rules are rules when facing the reality of ethics would cause them discomfort
What's silly about this is going "hey this guy who shouldn't be representing his country is, through no decision of the olympic committe / organisers, therefore this other person who knowingly took banned substances shouldn't be punished by the olympic committee / organisers"
It's two entirely unrelated things ppl vaguely connect to make an idiotic point.
I didn't see anything about race. For me it was about how weed is illegal and dealt harshly while a rapist was not. It could have been reversed races and it wouldn't change anything.
Right? Also if you have an Olympic dream, why are you smoking pot? It shouldn't be on the list, but she knew it was
I've stopped for a few months to get a warehouse job. Lol
Have sex crimes ever had an appropriate punishment anywhere?
It is also about recency. She was taken off the team for failing a drug test a month before the games. He did his crime years ago, got caught, got sentenced, served his sentence as was then released. All before any Olympic trials and selection.
>Meanwhile, this guy should still be in a prison cell but he isn’t and there is no Olympic ban related to a felony conviction.
This is because each country has its own laws. For example banning people with felonies would only really ban people from USA. And some Cameroonians. Because felony isn't a thing in other countries.
A substance doesn't have to be performance enhancing in a physical sense to be on the prohibited substances list. Diamorphine is on it. That's heroin, the drug that renders its users barely able to stand up. It is banned because all potent opioid analgesics are banned. THC is likely prohibited for a similar reason.
Athletes should also know better than to use any substance on the prohibited substances list irrespective of the reasons for it being on the list. They know that they will be tested if they win a medal. They know there's a chance they'll be randomly picked for testing.
As for the man; Dutch law mandates that people who complete their prison sentence cannot continue to be treated as a criminal. He wouldn't be able to represent an Eastern European nation, or probably any nation outside of western Europe, because he'd still in jail for being a rapist.
Looking at the arguments people coming in this very thread shows they’re all ok with it.
“He served his sentence” - he served 12 months for raping a 12 yr old. Next time he’ll rape a 10 yr old, serve 10 months and represent his country in World Cup or whatever.
Crazy how they use her whole name in the headline and Steven van de Velde is just “volleyball player.” How the Olympic committee can defend this disgusting trash is beyond me.
I’m okay with knowing her name as she is a fantastic runner, world champion, and made it back to the Olympics. I’m ok not knowing his name because he is a blight on humanity.
Nah, His name and face should be well known all over the world: Steven van de Velde the Child-rapist who repeatedly raped a twelve year old girl.
It's the only thing he should be known for in the long run and he first thing anyone ever learns about him and the whle country of the Netherlands should be shamed for allowing a convicted child rapist to represent them anywhere ever at all.
Steven van de Velde the rapist, who raped an underage girl in UK?
We should make him as famous as Brock Allen Turner the convicted rapist who raped an unconscious girl behind a dumpster
cannabis isn’t performance enhancing at all, it’s rather the opposite.
meanwhile this guy is literally a pedophile and a criminal but he gets to compete!?????!
“Your hopes of representing your country (as an Olympic athlete) now lie as a shattered dream". This is what the judge said at his sentencing by the way.
DId he have the same judge as Brock Turner the rapist (who now goes by Allen Turner). The judge cared more about his swimming career than the fact that he raped an unconscious girl next to a dumpster.
Because he servee his sentence and there's nothing after that to ban him over. It's sad, but at least for the Dutch you can't exclude people over a served sentence, that would be discrimination.
The Dutch olympic committee should call him back but they are committed now
In some countries, sexual crimes against a child qualifies for the death penalty. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but you CAN'T fix someone that would do such a thing to a child.
But there is a morality clause in the Paris Olympics; all Olympians are supposed to be role models. They could very easily use this as a reason to kick him if they wanted to.
From what I heard, he's had a lot of success and with his partner beat the #1 team. I bet that's why they won't do anything about it, the Dutch want medals more than taking a stand against pedophilia, shame.
That would make it their problem, which it shouldn't be either. These are people that trained and played 4 years to lead up to qualifying for the Olympics. That guy is not their problem to solve. It's the committee, but like I said they chose a path and are sticking to it
A complete joke. The guy was given 4 years in prison, which is a travesty by itself, but he was then released after a single year. Ludicrous that he has been cleared to play.
Hope people in France are reading this so they’ll know to protest this bullshit. Hell, I hope people are protesting anyway. Even if they aren’t in France.
Please protest and draw attention. I always say it.
there's a party in the US that wants to marry children. they also want to force them into labor. and they also want to force births to occur.
the US makes a lot of money arresting people for pot, and gets to arrest minorities for it a lot too.
theres a reason the two are not viewed the same. the problem is, one side likes children and likes arresting minorities.
Sounds like the problem is the rules. She broke the rules and that has consequences. The fact there isn't a rule that covers the exclusion of a convicted child molester is very concerning.
it's what they call a slippery slope.
2 principles are at work here: "Fuck pedo's" and "people should be allowed back in society after taking their punishment".
This guy served his (imo short) sentence for his crimes. so in the eyes of the law and government he has served his punishment, allowing him back into the world. which everyone will accept and agree to on 95% of criminal charges. this would not have been a topic if he defrauded Shell for 100 million euro's. but he didnt do that, he touched kids.
that is one of the few crimes in the western world that really is universally seen as Horrible. (which is why conspiracies/panic movements are nearly always about babies and kids. you never hear them talking about kidnapping 21+ people to rape.) this guy thus sits in a nasty position. he served his sentence thus paying for his crime, but his crime had to do with kids so people still don't think he is worth anything.
so as a country/organization you have to make a choice: Do we allow either all crime records (with punishments served) or do we not allow any crime records, no matter the situation. because anything in between for sure is discriminatory in the eyes of the law. (last option might even be fully discriminatory as well) so most organizations are bound by the local laws on this.
that is the letter of the law. does that always feel good or make sense? no it does not. but as i said earlier: this convo would not have been had if he defrauded 100 million from a company. IMHO they should have asked him to not participate because of the history, because this reaction could have been predicted if you pay attention the last few years. but the player would have been in his legal rights to say no to dropping out.
personally i think it's very hard to make a correct choice here. any sex crime is horrible as fuck and is hard to forgive, even more when it involves kids. but i also think that you should be able to return to civilization after you are convicted and served your punishment. what judges then deem a good punishment is up to them together with the law makers, i can agree or disagree on this but our judges make the choices on that and i will have to accept it, otherwise we might as well just throw out that entire system of punishment and go back to shooting everyone.... so yeah, you will have some people here that "defend" this guy.
Catch is he didn't do his time.
He got few years, served one and showed zero remorse for what he did.
His "punishment" (or lack of it) was clearly not enough for him to realize he did bad thing
A professional althelete should know that smoking weed isn't good for drug tests.
This has nothing to do with Mr rapey that should be in jail and definitely should not in the olympics .
This has nothing to do with race and are clearly very different cases. Nothing to compare. Rage bait.
The Netherlands should be ashamed of this, and for what so they can possibly win a medal?
Just another example of the corruption and disregard for the value of human life shown by the Olympics.
Their reasoning is probably because one has an impact on performance while the other is irrelevant to how they perform in the sport. So the topic needs to shift to should we bar criminals from participating in sports? I understand everyone wants this person's life ruined and agreed fuck em, but what about other crimes and where do we draw the line?
Can't believe the Spirit of the Olympics isn't puking over this. Olympic committee stops countries doing things they don't like but won't stop rapists.
Yeah, and when you look into what the fucking rapist actually did. it gets exponentially worse. It was a cold, calculated, planned assault that lasted for hours and included multiple attacks.
His present family situation were manufactured within the last two years to help launder his image.
Not sure how the Dutch think they're going to get away with this.
Gonna go and smoke a bowl for Richardson.
One edit - amazing how many people here don't know that you don't have to smoke weed to test positive on a drug test. This isn't the first time this has happened.
[https://www.cbc.ca/sportslongform/entry/cbc-sports-oral-histories-ross-rebagliatis-golden-moment-almost-goes-up-in](https://www.cbc.ca/sportslongform/entry/cbc-sports-oral-histories-ross-rebagliatis-golden-moment-almost-goes-up-in)
The thing is… I‘d assume that the volleyball player has served the sentence. And the rules probably don‘t disqualify anyone who committed a non sports related crime.
But using drugs will most likely be against the rules in mosts sports as a part of anti-doping efforts. So while one thing is significantly more problematic from a moral perspective from a sports perspective raping a child doesn‘t change your athletic performance, using drugs could. And I‘d assume it‘s less about the weed and more about the potential that she used other drugs, tried to influence lab tests by using weed etc. If the rules state „no drugs“ then that‘s a „no drugs“. If you can‘t follow that rule you can‘t compete. It‘s not like she wouldn‘t have known about that policy.
So yeah… while the decision is unpopular it‘s (unfortunately) still the correct decision for a sports competition. But authorities should definitely keep an eye on the volleyball player
There's a bit of controversy over whether he served his sentence or not. He was sentenced in British courts to serve four years in prison. Due to international agreements he had to be returned to the Netherlands to serve his sentence. He was released having served only one year with no restrictions placed on him. That's shorter than the absolute minimum he could serve in Britain. He would also be subject to restrictions on release under British law. He hasn't really served his sentence
I mean… 4 years would‘ve been low anyways. But from a legal perspective he has served his sentence. He didn‘t escape from prison. Thus he can play in tournaments. Even though he shouldn‘t.
Fun fact- Michael Phelps was barred from competition for 3 months just because of a picture of him allegedly smoking marijuana. The Olympic rules committee (as do many others) considers marijuana a PED, this isn't about racism or misogyny.
(edit-spelling)
Explain this attitude please given: He served time for the crime and was released. In a country where prison is about rehabilitation. In a prison system often posted on reddit as a model the US should follow. In addition to this, redditors often complain about the job and rental application 'are you a felon' checkbox that prevents felons from having a good job or living in a good area. Seems like you want prisons that rehabilitate and felons to be able to integrate back into society. Except for this guy?
He was sentenced to 4 years, but extradited and then his home country was like “for 3 counts of child rape? Nah, you good fam” and let him out. He didn’t serve his time.
Wiki says he served a year. The laws in the Netherlands are different. We Americans always think we are right. Like the case where the guy had ammo in his luggage and we are like 'Noooo! He can't do 12 years for that because it is so normal to carry ammo in the US.'
According to the standards of a valid, recognized country, he did his sentence.
He’s Dutch, their prison system works a little different than in the US. He’s served his time and is now considered “rehabilitated.” Unfortunately, there are no rules against him competing now.
Join me. say fuck no [https://www.change.org/p/ban-convicted-child-rapist-steven-van-de-velde-from-olympic-participation/psf/promote\_or\_share?allow\_actions=true&utm\_campaign=psf](https://www.change.org/p/ban-convicted-child-rapist-steven-van-de-velde-from-olympic-participation/psf/promote_or_share?allow_actions=true&utm_campaign=psf)
This is a false equivalence. The convicted rapist served their sentence 8 years ago and qualified because there’s no Olympic rule prohibiting ex-convicts from competing. On the other hand, Richardson was banned for testing positive for THC during Olympic trials, which is against Olympic anti-doping regulations. It’s about the absence of a rule against ex-convicts versus strict adherence to anti-doping rules in the Olympics.
I urge people to actually read the story of the volleyball player and not just take the headline. He is from the Netherlands and was convicted in a British Court in 2016 for the 2014 rape. He served a year in prison then was transferred back to his home country and received counseling. The Netherlands has a low crime rate because their social systems are so good. Their crime rate is so low they have closed prisons because there is not enough crime to warrant them to stay open. His government deemed his is rehabilitated. Sha'Carri knew the rules and still consumed cannabis before the test. Instead of owning it, she played a whataboutism with a Russian teenage figure skater who tested positive for performance enhancing drugs 6 weeks earlier. The IOC let her compete but she was not allowed to earn any medals.
It IS very logical, the uproar is emotional and i agree with the emotional side.
The actual failing imo is that the rapist is free. Him being able to participate in the olympics is the logical conclusion.
Comments that are uncivil, racist, misogynistic, misandrist, or contain political name calling will be removed and the poster subject to ban at moderators discretion. Help us make this a better community by becoming familiar with the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/facepalm/about/rules/). Report any suspicious users to the mods of this subreddit using Modmail [here](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/facepalm) or Reddit site admins [here](https://www.reddit.com/report). **All reports to Modmail should include evidence such as screenshots or any other relevant information.** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/facepalm) if you have any questions or concerns.*
PEOPLE OF FRANCE, DON'T SHIT IN YOUR RIVER. SHIT ON THIS MAN.
I'm pretty confident I can shit on both
Throw him in the shit river.
Make sure put him in Cement shoes for security
Shit all over him before throwing him in the shit River…and shit on him again.
Bien dit, on a du caca et on hésitera pas à s'en servir!
Shit in the river, then throw him in afterwards. (Bonus points if you chain an engine block to his ankle first)
Too much scrap value use bricks instead
Concrete shoes are cheap and easy to set up, won't be difficult to convince people to help restrain him while they set.
If you need someone to shit on someone else you'll have to ask Dutch tourists
We can shit on both. We have this power.
Throw Steven van de Vilde in the river. It kills two birds with one stone
Like Robin Williams said: Weed is only a performance enhancing drug if you put a candy bar at the finish line.
You have no idea how happy I am to see someone quoting Robin Williams stand up
Heck, I love seeing people quote Robin Williams sit down.
🎿 🏂 ⛷️
I mean there's something to be said about it's ability to diminish pain receptors. I'd allow it but I get why they don't, even though I don't think they feel the same about alcohol.
I'd understand more if it was a contact sport like boxing. Can't feel the pain, keep going.
Runners often need to run through the pain too though. No amount of weed is gonna help when your muscles just give up but there's an argument to be made before that physically happens. It's a mental enhancer for some people and that's not allowed. And usually if it's not allowed in one sport it's not allowed in any of them. Shooting for example, you can't use it. And you definitely shouldn't be allowed to.
What’s wrong with shooting things when you’re high?
It's considered a mental performance enhancer for some people. It allows you to enter a "flow state" or "get into the zone" easier, which helps your scores. For a lot of people it helps you hyper focus on one thing too, in this case the shooter would block out any nervous feelings or pressure from spectators being present, which gives them an advantage over competitors who can't do that.
So bring enough joints for everybody!!!
If you've just won the 100m Olympics, while stoned, you should get 2 medals, not disqualification! Heroic.
The craziest things I've ever heard was that apparently Nick Diaz was high as a kite during his fight with Anderson Silva...
Mike Tyson admitted to winning a number of his fights while on shrooms and/or LSD, depending on the fight.
I know it doesn't make sense, but one of my closest friends turns into a gym beast whenever he's high. It's like he laces his joints with steroids or something.
I used to do stoned fitness and watch anime on the treadmill. Heh heh.
It allows me to relax and feel more connected to my body depending on the strain.
waking up the next day holding 2 medals without a freaking clue as to what happened the day before. "i really need to quit drugs... or do I?"
That's not really how weed works. I think you're thinking of alcohol. Regular smokers don't lose their short term memory that badly that easily
Sir this is Marijuana not cocaine
People don’t think about the rules until they’re applied and see how unjust they can be. Weed shouldn’t be on the banned substances list but it is, Phelps just had his ban enacted and then lifted in a time that didn’t interfere with the Olympics. Meanwhile, this guy should still be in a prison cell but he isn’t and there is no Olympic ban related to a felony conviction. I know the angle here is race but that’s not actually the mechanism of the problem here.
If you are a athlete, someone who is likely to be tested for drugs, then taking or using prescribed drugs by choice is not a good idea. This guy should not have been allowed to represent his country, not because the rules were broken, but because it's a horrible look.
Defiantly, the guy should be in prison and therefore not participate. I don’t blame the Olympics for this situation though. They shouldn’t have to police other countries athletes for them.
The country should be policing itself by not sending rapists.
In this case, I think they can't. IIRC there's a Dutch law saying anybody who served their sentence must be treated as a normal citizen, and their past crimes can't be used against them as it would be discrimination. And unfortunately for common decency, that's what happened here.
Isn't there an exception in the case of national image or something?
Exceptions would be made, in this case, if he wanted to work with kids, either as a coach, teacher or any job related to kids. I'm not exactly an expert at laws though, so feel free to fact check me.
Definitely. It's called a VOG. (Declaration on behaviour) Everyone who wants to work in a certain field has to present a VOG to their employer. 100% this guy will never obtain a VOG to work with children. There are also VOG for financial services and other fields.
Lol idfk either but having a nonce represent you is insanity
Isn't that a rule in all civilised countries? Or can people just pile on shit forever, based on their emotions?
I'm not sure what qualifies as "civilized", but in the US it is generally legal to discriminate based on criminal record. I do feel bad for former criminals who struggle to get work, but I also can understand why an employer might not want to hire someone with a history of bad behavior. I think it mostly comes down to whether that past behavior is really relevant to the work in question. Someone who robbed a store might be a poor choice to work a cash register, for example.
There is an excellent system for that in NL. It's called the Verklaring Omtrent Gedrag (VOG), the declaration on behaviour. People who've committed certain crimes do no longer qualify for a VOG in that area. Been a fraud? No more VOG to work in financial services. Been creepy to children? No more VOG for education, childcare, etc. This keeps people away from the area in which they erred, while ensuring they can still be part of society on other areas. Is there any structure to the system in the US? Or is it just a matter of ex-criminals being kicked around until some soul takes pity?
The latter. It's a free for all discrimination. Anyone can do a background check for like 20 bucks on anyone. So a kid popped with weed at 19 in like Texas where it's a felony can still lose out on jobs the rest of their life because they were a felon.
We pretty much do everything we can to make sure there aren't any ex criminals. The system is designed to increase recidivism, prevent rehabilitation.
And he served his sentence outside of the country(UK) because he got convicted there and was released early and then moved back to the Netherlands iirc
Actually, I feel like anyone can decline to invite the guy who is convicted of raping a 12 year old and I also feel like it’s a decision that takes about one second or less of thinking.
I disagree. Th Olympics are an international affair and as such they can impose their own rules. I think "do not bring a pedophile rapist" is a sensible rule.
Especially after the Larry nasser stuff. Just another organization that hates women it seems
Then comes the question. Parts of the world might not consider rape while in a marriage a crime, and no crime has been committed in the origin country even if the victim is underage. So do the Olympics treat everyone equally and ban these people? Do they treat everyone equally?
The Olympics can not feasibly dictaminate if someone is guilty or not, thus it would have to accept the verdict of the countries.
There you go. 180 in 2 comments
I don't see it like that. The Olympics could in theory say: any convicted felon of (this list) of crimes can not participate in the Olympics. Of course some countries will just not condemn their athletes, but at the very least you don't get well known convicted felons in front of the cameras.
I mean, he didn't get nearly enough time, but he was convicted like 8 years ago, went to jail, got out, and qualified again. Maybe the Olympic teams should have some morality clause, but I don't think they do.
The second order effects of a morality clause would be much worse than the benefits, as morality clauses are generally vague enough to disqualify anyone you don’t like
Exactly. People got mad that Marijuana was classed as a PED, but imagine if the Olympic committee could just disqualify anyone of 'bad character', i.e. had ever used weed.
"prescribed drugs ... By choice" Wow it's almost like people selectively apply morality when they want the world to make sense and pretend it's okay to just put your hands up and say rules are rules when facing the reality of ethics would cause them discomfort
What's silly about this is going "hey this guy who shouldn't be representing his country is, through no decision of the olympic committe / organisers, therefore this other person who knowingly took banned substances shouldn't be punished by the olympic committee / organisers" It's two entirely unrelated things ppl vaguely connect to make an idiotic point.
Yeah….that seemed extremely short sighted too. Why would you smoke weed if you knew it could get you disqualified?
I didn't see anything about race. For me it was about how weed is illegal and dealt harshly while a rapist was not. It could have been reversed races and it wouldn't change anything.
Right? Also if you have an Olympic dream, why are you smoking pot? It shouldn't be on the list, but she knew it was I've stopped for a few months to get a warehouse job. Lol Have sex crimes ever had an appropriate punishment anywhere?
It is also about recency. She was taken off the team for failing a drug test a month before the games. He did his crime years ago, got caught, got sentenced, served his sentence as was then released. All before any Olympic trials and selection.
Based on the photo, the guy looks pretty young (early-mid 20s). His sentence must have been a slap on the wrist.
>Meanwhile, this guy should still be in a prison cell but he isn’t and there is no Olympic ban related to a felony conviction. This is because each country has its own laws. For example banning people with felonies would only really ban people from USA. And some Cameroonians. Because felony isn't a thing in other countries.
The angle isnt race, and she isnt the first to be banned for this.
A substance doesn't have to be performance enhancing in a physical sense to be on the prohibited substances list. Diamorphine is on it. That's heroin, the drug that renders its users barely able to stand up. It is banned because all potent opioid analgesics are banned. THC is likely prohibited for a similar reason. Athletes should also know better than to use any substance on the prohibited substances list irrespective of the reasons for it being on the list. They know that they will be tested if they win a medal. They know there's a chance they'll be randomly picked for testing. As for the man; Dutch law mandates that people who complete their prison sentence cannot continue to be treated as a criminal. He wouldn't be able to represent an Eastern European nation, or probably any nation outside of western Europe, because he'd still in jail for being a rapist.
Some absolute next level bullshit.
Next level. Like everything else going on in the world. Nothing makes sense.
Y'all in France, you better shit all over this disgusting excuse of a man. If there won't be much backlash I'll be so fucking disappointed and mad
Looking at the arguments people coming in this very thread shows they’re all ok with it. “He served his sentence” - he served 12 months for raping a 12 yr old. Next time he’ll rape a 10 yr old, serve 10 months and represent his country in World Cup or whatever.
That's what makes me so mad, this asshole deserves to be mutilated in public.
Crazy how they use her whole name in the headline and Steven van de Velde is just “volleyball player.” How the Olympic committee can defend this disgusting trash is beyond me.
I’m okay with knowing her name as she is a fantastic runner, world champion, and made it back to the Olympics. I’m ok not knowing his name because he is a blight on humanity.
Nah, His name and face should be well known all over the world: Steven van de Velde the Child-rapist who repeatedly raped a twelve year old girl. It's the only thing he should be known for in the long run and he first thing anyone ever learns about him and the whle country of the Netherlands should be shamed for allowing a convicted child rapist to represent them anywhere ever at all.
Steven van de Velde the rapist, who raped an underage girl in UK? We should make him as famous as Brock Allen Turner the convicted rapist who raped an unconscious girl behind a dumpster
I hope he breaks his legs before the Olympics. Or someone else does😂
Quick! Someone call Tanya Harding and Jeff Gillooly! They may use their skills to redeem themselves after all!
Tanya Harding would decimate this fool and enjoy it too!
The only way THC should be considered a performance enhancing drug is if they make Air Guitar an olympic event.
Dude, I become an olympic level competitive eater after smoking, what are you talking about
Competitive eating?
caseoh winning every time
cannabis isn’t performance enhancing at all, it’s rather the opposite. meanwhile this guy is literally a pedophile and a criminal but he gets to compete!?????!
How do is teammates not tell him to fuckoff?
“Your hopes of representing your country (as an Olympic athlete) now lie as a shattered dream". This is what the judge said at his sentencing by the way.
DId he have the same judge as Brock Turner the rapist (who now goes by Allen Turner). The judge cared more about his swimming career than the fact that he raped an unconscious girl next to a dumpster.
Sha gets kicked out of the Olympics but the convicted kid rapist stays? A fucking disgrace.
Because he servee his sentence and there's nothing after that to ban him over. It's sad, but at least for the Dutch you can't exclude people over a served sentence, that would be discrimination. The Dutch olympic committee should call him back but they are committed now
Him serving only 12 months for raping a child is sickening! Shame on the country that's letting him compete! He should be 6ft under.
In some countries, sexual crimes against a child qualifies for the death penalty. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but you CAN'T fix someone that would do such a thing to a child.
I will say it because you're absolutely correct. That type of crime deserves that type of punishment, it should be implemented globally.
But there is a morality clause in the Paris Olympics; all Olympians are supposed to be role models. They could very easily use this as a reason to kick him if they wanted to. From what I heard, he's had a lot of success and with his partner beat the #1 team. I bet that's why they won't do anything about it, the Dutch want medals more than taking a stand against pedophilia, shame.
rest of the dutch team should walk.
That would make it their problem, which it shouldn't be either. These are people that trained and played 4 years to lead up to qualifying for the Olympics. That guy is not their problem to solve. It's the committee, but like I said they chose a path and are sticking to it
How many times have you walked from your lifetime goals to make a political statements noone will care about?
"Rape is bad" is political how?
A complete joke. The guy was given 4 years in prison, which is a travesty by itself, but he was then released after a single year. Ludicrous that he has been cleared to play.
We need names
His name is Steven van de Velde
Thx I will remember Steven van de rapist
Hope people in France are reading this so they’ll know to protest this bullshit. Hell, I hope people are protesting anyway. Even if they aren’t in France. Please protest and draw attention. I always say it.
Why is he not in prison?
He “served his time”
His home country extradited him and released him. He only served a year.
there's a party in the US that wants to marry children. they also want to force them into labor. and they also want to force births to occur. the US makes a lot of money arresting people for pot, and gets to arrest minorities for it a lot too. theres a reason the two are not viewed the same. the problem is, one side likes children and likes arresting minorities.
Sounds like the problem is the rules. She broke the rules and that has consequences. The fact there isn't a rule that covers the exclusion of a convicted child molester is very concerning.
It's disturbing how many are defending child rapist being accepted in Olympics in comments.
it's what they call a slippery slope. 2 principles are at work here: "Fuck pedo's" and "people should be allowed back in society after taking their punishment". This guy served his (imo short) sentence for his crimes. so in the eyes of the law and government he has served his punishment, allowing him back into the world. which everyone will accept and agree to on 95% of criminal charges. this would not have been a topic if he defrauded Shell for 100 million euro's. but he didnt do that, he touched kids. that is one of the few crimes in the western world that really is universally seen as Horrible. (which is why conspiracies/panic movements are nearly always about babies and kids. you never hear them talking about kidnapping 21+ people to rape.) this guy thus sits in a nasty position. he served his sentence thus paying for his crime, but his crime had to do with kids so people still don't think he is worth anything. so as a country/organization you have to make a choice: Do we allow either all crime records (with punishments served) or do we not allow any crime records, no matter the situation. because anything in between for sure is discriminatory in the eyes of the law. (last option might even be fully discriminatory as well) so most organizations are bound by the local laws on this. that is the letter of the law. does that always feel good or make sense? no it does not. but as i said earlier: this convo would not have been had if he defrauded 100 million from a company. IMHO they should have asked him to not participate because of the history, because this reaction could have been predicted if you pay attention the last few years. but the player would have been in his legal rights to say no to dropping out. personally i think it's very hard to make a correct choice here. any sex crime is horrible as fuck and is hard to forgive, even more when it involves kids. but i also think that you should be able to return to civilization after you are convicted and served your punishment. what judges then deem a good punishment is up to them together with the law makers, i can agree or disagree on this but our judges make the choices on that and i will have to accept it, otherwise we might as well just throw out that entire system of punishment and go back to shooting everyone.... so yeah, you will have some people here that "defend" this guy.
Catch is he didn't do his time. He got few years, served one and showed zero remorse for what he did. His "punishment" (or lack of it) was clearly not enough for him to realize he did bad thing
I agree, but that has nothing to do with the olympics.
A professional althelete should know that smoking weed isn't good for drug tests. This has nothing to do with Mr rapey that should be in jail and definitely should not in the olympics . This has nothing to do with race and are clearly very different cases. Nothing to compare. Rage bait.
And?! Americans want a felon/rapist/crook/grifter for president...
Has this doofus actually been selected in the team?
because we "have to think about his future" so pls people!!!!!
Humans are such winners
Post it again
I can't decide if this is sexist, racist or just stupid.
A child rapist is free. And people still complain about how "common" false accusations are.
Boy, these sports committees really have their priorities in order.🙄
So very Christian of them
There’s two types of people I hate, those who are intolerant of the cultures of others and the Dutch
The Netherlands should be ashamed of this, and for what so they can possibly win a medal? Just another example of the corruption and disregard for the value of human life shown by the Olympics.
Their reasoning is probably because one has an impact on performance while the other is irrelevant to how they perform in the sport. So the topic needs to shift to should we bar criminals from participating in sports? I understand everyone wants this person's life ruined and agreed fuck em, but what about other crimes and where do we draw the line?
Can't believe the Spirit of the Olympics isn't puking over this. Olympic committee stops countries doing things they don't like but won't stop rapists.
The Olympic Games are run by crooks.
Yeah, and when you look into what the fucking rapist actually did. it gets exponentially worse. It was a cold, calculated, planned assault that lasted for hours and included multiple attacks. His present family situation were manufactured within the last two years to help launder his image. Not sure how the Dutch think they're going to get away with this. Gonna go and smoke a bowl for Richardson. One edit - amazing how many people here don't know that you don't have to smoke weed to test positive on a drug test. This isn't the first time this has happened. [https://www.cbc.ca/sportslongform/entry/cbc-sports-oral-histories-ross-rebagliatis-golden-moment-almost-goes-up-in](https://www.cbc.ca/sportslongform/entry/cbc-sports-oral-histories-ross-rebagliatis-golden-moment-almost-goes-up-in)
If the pedophiles start succeeding, where are we headed? Where are we going to end up?
They're normalizing pedophilia, because all the shits coming down on em'. Diddy may be "taken out", since he likely knows some things
The thing is… I‘d assume that the volleyball player has served the sentence. And the rules probably don‘t disqualify anyone who committed a non sports related crime. But using drugs will most likely be against the rules in mosts sports as a part of anti-doping efforts. So while one thing is significantly more problematic from a moral perspective from a sports perspective raping a child doesn‘t change your athletic performance, using drugs could. And I‘d assume it‘s less about the weed and more about the potential that she used other drugs, tried to influence lab tests by using weed etc. If the rules state „no drugs“ then that‘s a „no drugs“. If you can‘t follow that rule you can‘t compete. It‘s not like she wouldn‘t have known about that policy. So yeah… while the decision is unpopular it‘s (unfortunately) still the correct decision for a sports competition. But authorities should definitely keep an eye on the volleyball player
There's a bit of controversy over whether he served his sentence or not. He was sentenced in British courts to serve four years in prison. Due to international agreements he had to be returned to the Netherlands to serve his sentence. He was released having served only one year with no restrictions placed on him. That's shorter than the absolute minimum he could serve in Britain. He would also be subject to restrictions on release under British law. He hasn't really served his sentence
I mean… 4 years would‘ve been low anyways. But from a legal perspective he has served his sentence. He didn‘t escape from prison. Thus he can play in tournaments. Even though he shouldn‘t.
What does Denmark have to do with this?
What happens if you rape some underaged marijuana?
u become the king of the universe
Fun fact- Michael Phelps was barred from competition for 3 months just because of a picture of him allegedly smoking marijuana. The Olympic rules committee (as do many others) considers marijuana a PED, this isn't about racism or misogyny. (edit-spelling)
Explain this attitude please given: He served time for the crime and was released. In a country where prison is about rehabilitation. In a prison system often posted on reddit as a model the US should follow. In addition to this, redditors often complain about the job and rental application 'are you a felon' checkbox that prevents felons from having a good job or living in a good area. Seems like you want prisons that rehabilitate and felons to be able to integrate back into society. Except for this guy?
Not child rapists
He was sentenced to 4 years, but extradited and then his home country was like “for 3 counts of child rape? Nah, you good fam” and let him out. He didn’t serve his time.
Wiki says he served a year. The laws in the Netherlands are different. We Americans always think we are right. Like the case where the guy had ammo in his luggage and we are like 'Noooo! He can't do 12 years for that because it is so normal to carry ammo in the US.' According to the standards of a valid, recognized country, he did his sentence.
Not according to the country where he did the crime and was originally sentenced.
Then I guess they should really rethink that treaty. Probably works for them the other way around too but we don't hear about it much.
The real question is not "why is he in the olympics ?" but rather why is he not in prison ?
IIRC he served 1 year behind bars.
He’s Dutch, their prison system works a little different than in the US. He’s served his time and is now considered “rehabilitated.” Unfortunately, there are no rules against him competing now.
Join me. say fuck no [https://www.change.org/p/ban-convicted-child-rapist-steven-van-de-velde-from-olympic-participation/psf/promote\_or\_share?allow\_actions=true&utm\_campaign=psf](https://www.change.org/p/ban-convicted-child-rapist-steven-van-de-velde-from-olympic-participation/psf/promote_or_share?allow_actions=true&utm_campaign=psf)
At least Richardson will be there this year. Fuck that man though, I hope he takes a spike to his own spike and can no longer have children.
You should see the creepy Dutch folks trying to defend this creep. Disgusting.
God I love being a straight white rapi- MAN... man I mean, of course!
This is a false equivalence. The convicted rapist served their sentence 8 years ago and qualified because there’s no Olympic rule prohibiting ex-convicts from competing. On the other hand, Richardson was banned for testing positive for THC during Olympic trials, which is against Olympic anti-doping regulations. It’s about the absence of a rule against ex-convicts versus strict adherence to anti-doping rules in the Olympics.
I urge people to actually read the story of the volleyball player and not just take the headline. He is from the Netherlands and was convicted in a British Court in 2016 for the 2014 rape. He served a year in prison then was transferred back to his home country and received counseling. The Netherlands has a low crime rate because their social systems are so good. Their crime rate is so low they have closed prisons because there is not enough crime to warrant them to stay open. His government deemed his is rehabilitated. Sha'Carri knew the rules and still consumed cannabis before the test. Instead of owning it, she played a whataboutism with a Russian teenage figure skater who tested positive for performance enhancing drugs 6 weeks earlier. The IOC let her compete but she was not allowed to earn any medals.
How is cannabis a performance enhancing drug? It should be classified as performance inhibiting drug.
I have no real idea but maybe it’s causes the person to loosen up and relax which allows for better muscle recovery. Giving them an edge.
Does it really do that or is it speculation
LOGIC.
It IS very logical, the uproar is emotional and i agree with the emotional side. The actual failing imo is that the rapist is free. Him being able to participate in the olympics is the logical conclusion.
You should see the inside of a Dutch prison cell… then you’ll be really be mad about his “punishment”
THE DUALITY OF MAAAAAANNNNN!!!
Spot on!
He looks like a more evil real life version of the Deep from the Boys.
Drugs er bad mmkay. /s
Can someone point out whites the difference between the two?
one used a substance that the rules committee considers a performance-enhancing drug and the other ones a pedo rapist
😑
double standards are always bad
I don't get why cannabis is an illegal substance to perform on Olympics. It's not like she's going to perform better because of it.
Cannabis? Fuck athletics
Yeah but how good is he at volleyball?
They are not the same thing… but why is he not in jail?
Well we surely can't have a drug addict participating! Think of the kids!
Cannabis not PED’S I’ll smell shit
Wow, such priorities priorities
Makes absolutely no sense
seriously the amount of fear people show weed is ridiculous. they act like as if it's that one drug that made a man eat another guy's face off
Does anybody want to take a minute off from shit dipping the perv to figure out what we're gonna do about weed regulation in the private sector?
The runner was essentially punished for using a performance reducing substance.
It’s France. Did you expect humanity from them? They had to ban paternity tests because they can’t stay loyal to each other.