Manitoba Olympic volleyball player thrilled to play in Rio
Justin Duff looks forward to seeing 'what it really feels like to be an Olympian'
A Winnipeg volleyball player says he's excited about competing in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he'll face the toughest teams in the world.
"I'm thrilled," said Justin Duff, 28.
"I look forward to see[ing] ... what it really feels like to be an Olympian."
The Rio Olympics run Aug. 5-21 and the volleyball competition begins Aug. 6.
Duff's amateur sports career started in Winnipeg, his hometown, when he began playing volleyball at 16 at Maples Collegiate.
By the time he made it to university, Duff was named the University of Winnipeg's 2010 male athlete of the year.
Since then Duff has played for teams in Turkey and Russia and trained in Portugal.
This is the first men's volleyball team Canada has sent to the Olympic Games in 24 years and Duff is one of only two Manitobans on the team — the other is TJ Sanders.
"We're playing some of the best teams in the world. And we're playing them all in a row," said Duff.
"There are two pools of six teams and our pool has four teams that can legitimately win the Olympics and no one would be surprised."
Those other teams include the United States, France, Brazil, and Italy.
He admits Canada's team is "not quite that good" but if they play well and catch the other teams on a bad day, they have a chance.
In the meantime, advice from a sports psychologist is helping him overcome some of his nervousness before the Games.
"It's been really valuable for me to just accept I will have these feelings that I don't have a lot of control over … but I do have control over the things I do next," said Duff.
While some might be comforted by family and friends cheering from the sidelines, Duff added he's happy his loved ones are staying in Manitoba for the Rio Olympics.
They are not experienced travellers and Duff said he would be too worried about them to concentrate on his matches.
"I'm just happy they're safe at home in Canada," he said with a laugh.