Eric Loeppky relishes Olympic experience

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This article was published 16/08/2024 (215 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Eric Loeppky and Team Canada’s time on the court at the 2024 Paris Olympics may have come to a premature end, but the Steinbach volleyball player is still glowing after his Olympic experience.

Team Canada’s men’s volleyball team couldn’t win a match after getting drawn into a tough group which included hosts and eventual gold medal winners France.

“I feel like we under-performed for what we were capable of,” Loeppky said.

“There’s a lot of things you could say, that we had a really tough pool, the draw was pretty hard, all that stuff. But it’s the Olympics. To do anything special at the Olympics you have to be playing your best ball and I don’t think we were.”

It was a tough first two games for Canada, losing in four sets to Slovenia and in straight sets to France. Had the team put up better performances in those losses and managed to win a couple more sets, it would have made their final match against Slovakia meaningful.

Loeppky said he’s been struggling to find the words to describe the Olympic experience as an athlete.

“It was amazing,” he said.

“It was such a surreal experience all around. With the venue, and everything they set up for the athletes. It’s the biggest sporting event in the world and they kind of go all out.”

The opening ceremonies took on a different flavour this year, with delegations floating on boats along the Seine River as opposed to a traditional stadium experience.

“Being on the boat was incredible,” Loeppky said.

“For us, we were on the boat for two, three hours, and it was so cool to be with the other athletes, chat with other Canadian athletes… I didn’t realize how many people would be set up to watch the opening ceremonies… To see people all along their balconies and patios cheering for you and clapping each country along, it was super cool.”

Loeppky made the most of his time in Paris after Canada was eliminated, attending the final day of men’s golf, as he’s struck up a friendly relationship with Canadian standouts Nick Taylor and Corey Connors He also caught the men’s tennis finals.

The final, hosted in historic Roland-Garros featured maybe the best two current players in the world, with Serbia’s Novak Djokovic defeating Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz in a re-match of this year’s Wimbledon final.

“That was maybe the coolest sporting event I’ve seen live,” Loeppky said.

“That was a just a masterclass. The old veteran wizard versus the young stallion, that was so cool.”

Loeppky also looked on with jealously as he took in some beach volleyball. The venue was a specially built stadium right underneath the Eiffel Tower.

“I was talking to my wife in the stands as we were watching and asked ‘you think I could do the beach thing?’” Loeppky said, laughing.

“Maybe one day, maybe that’s another dream.”

Loeppky and his young family are back in North America, as he prepares to begin his first club season with Lube in Italy’s Superlega.

“I don’t think I’ve been this excited to go overseas before,” he said.

“I’m excited to find our groove as a family, to support a new team, get after it and see what we can do.”

Loeppky said he’ll be in Steinbach next week, and is planning on hosting a meet and greet with fans at Smitty’s one night between the 19th and 21st.