The American Dream suddenly turned into a nightmare. How intense can 48 hours in the life of a top athlete be? Julie Vanloo was on cloud nine this summer after winning the European title with the Belgian Cats, but was abruptly pulled down from her cloud during her return trip to the US.
In our end-of-year series, Vanloo tells her full story for the first time: “I was scared to experience this, and I was proven right.”
She covers her eyes with both hands, looks up, sighs, and wipes away a tear.
“I was overwhelmed until I saw her for the first time. I saw Julie (Allemand) and I thought: ‘Okay, everything happens for a reason.'”
“I held her. This is a Cat who knows me. Someone I can hold. Someone who speaks my language. It was the moment I thought everything would be okay.”
The conversation with Julie Vanloo is fifteen minutes old when she breaks down.
Vanloo, a chatterbox par excellence, catapults herself back to the final stop of her incredible rollercoaster. One that has dragged her from nowhere, via New York, to Los Angeles.
With every fiber of her being, she relives her bizarre entrance into the Brooklyn basketball arena as a brand-new player for the LA Sparks.
Six months later, it still grips her by the throat. Head versus heart.
To fully understand Vanloo’s story, we have to go back to June 29, 2025. A dutiful Vanloo realizes she can’t savor the title with the Cats. No celebration in the Grote Markt, not even a party on the private boat the Cats rented that night in Piraeus.
At 2:55 a.m., just hours after that incredible comeback against Spain, Vanloo jumps in a taxi to the airport.
Eighteen hours later, she will land in San Francisco. “I had to, and I wanted to, get back as soon as possible. I promised.”
What Vanloo doesn’t realize yet when she checks in is that she’ll be mercilessly thrown from one end of the emotional roller coaster to the other.
From San Francisco to Los Angeles. Unannounced, unsolicited, and irreversible. Can you meet me? Ironic or not, this pendulum swing typifies the life story of the 32-year-old West Flemish woman.
Joie de vivre personified for the outside world, an extroverted free spirit.
Those who know her better, as she herself will explain, see a self-made woman who always fights and never flees. A go-getter and dreamcatcher who carries a backpack packed to the brim.
Vanloo says: “I was flying over San Francisco and saw the Chase Center. I posted a photo with a heart. ‘Back in the Bay.’ I took a taxi home, and 10 minutes later I got a message from the general manager.”
“Can you meet me at the office?” was the request from the general manager of her club, the Golden State Valkyries. The WNBA newcomer had drafted Vanloo a few months earlier.
“That message didn’t give me the feeling we’d be sitting together to celebrate the title with cake. I sent it to a teammate who had won bronze at the European Championships. She hadn’t received a message from the manager.”
The Belgian Cats left the Greek stadium shortly after midnight. They had become European champions just hours earlier. Back-to-back. And this after a climax that even Hitchcock could learn a thing or two from.
Vanloo had more than played her part, but that wasn’t a given. Not that anyone doubts her key role with the Cats in 2025 – it was different once.
It was because Vanloo was caught between a rock and a hard place. For months, she was torn between her head and her heart.
In essence, she knew what she wanted all along, but for fear of reprisals due to the double agenda with the WNBA, a “yes” for the Cats was one with a bit of trepidation.
I told Golden State I would respect it. What could I do? It’s business, but I felt bad that I couldn’t celebrate with friends and family because of it. They said they wanted to deliver the message face to face. Julie Vanloo Vanloo immediately sensed something was wrong. “I told myself this wasn’t right. Something was going to happen, because why did they have to see me so soon? I went to the office with a heavy heart.”
There, Vanloo was told she would be promptly waived. In plain terms: Vanloo would be removed from Golden State’s roster.
“I didn’t really know what to say. I was exhausted and hadn’t slept. I was ecstatic after that medal. I told them I would respect it. What could I do?”
“It’s business, but I felt bad that I couldn’t celebrate with friends and family because of it. They said they wanted to deliver the message face to face.”
I had no energy to fight back and retreated into myself. I called Kiki (Kyara Linskens), my parents, and my agent. Even my agent was blown away. And 20 minutes later, their post was online.
My phone exploded. I received a ridiculous amount of support. I was overwhelmed by kind messages from people.
Even people I didn’t know. Players I looked up to and who I didn’t know knew me. In retrospect, that gave me a huge boost.
