Van de Velde was booed and jeered while competing at the Games. Dutch Olympic officials went to lengths to protect him from the press during the event.
He has now opened up to Dutch publication NOS about his experience, admitting that while he anticipated backlash, the intensity of it took him by surprise. "I definitely had a moment of breaking down, both before the tournament and during it. But I thought ‘I’m not going to give others the power to bully me away or get me away’.
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Please do show evidence of this.
He literally said it during the interview this article is about.
And I quote:
And from a previous interview in 2018 (in Dutch): https://nos.nl/l/2240281
Neither of those are apologies. I am really concerned about what you think apologies are and what you think is acceptable for an adult to do to a child.
Good Lord neither of those are apologies come the fuck on.