The Paralympics are the dream goal of many athletes. If they manage to achieve this goal, it is the result of years of intensive preparation. However, they are not the only ones who prepare for the games over several years.
The venue also requires a huge amount of planning. At the Paralympic Games in Paris alone, there were 4,400 athletes, each of whom brought a team of many other people with them and lived in a village built specifically for the purpose. They competed in 18 different sports venues, all of which included refreshment stands, media centers, paramedics, security checks and much more. In addition, there were over two million ticket holders who watched the 549 medal decisions in Paris.
A huge number of employees were needed to ensure that everything went according to plan, that the athletes were in the right place at the right time and that all the visitors found their seats in the stands. Without volunteers, this organization would not have been possible. At the Paralympics this year, there were around 5,300 volunteers from the city of Paris who played a major role in ensuring that the Paris Games were so highly praised by the public.
Chance meeting with Sweden’s Queen
The volunteers at the Paralympic Games worked eight-hour shifts a day, wore the same uniform while working, and were the contact persons for anyone who had a concern. And they did all of this voluntarily – none of them were paid by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) or the city of Paris.
© IMAGO/ABACAPRESS
Emma, a 23-year-old student from Germany, has worked as a volunteer during both the Olympic and Paralympic Games and says that was not the purpose behind the short-term employment: “You do it for the experience, for the sport, to meet people and just to be part of such a special event.”
The tasks of volunteers can vary greatly. The blue uniforms could be seen in various places in the city. There were those who were usually equipped with pink foam fingers, megaphones and good humor, who showed the crowds of visitors the way to the sports venues or scanned tickets at the entrance. There were also a few volunteers on every grandstand who were supposed to both keep order and have an open ear for the spectators.
Many volunteers also worked as assistants to the various delegations in the Paralympic Village. Emma, for example, was assigned to the Lithuanian delegation and worked as a supervisor and companion for the team. This is how she got to know the athletes from Lithuania and was even there when Lithuanian Osvaldas Bareikis won the bronze medal in Para-Judo: “We screamed our hearts out, we cheered so hard! It was very, very emotional.”
Over the almost two weeks of the Paralympics, not only have friendly relations developed with the Lithuanian delegation, but also among the volunteers, one gets to know new people from different countries with whom one quickly becomes friends.
There was also no sign of boredom among the thousands of volunteers. According to Emma, there were days when not much was going on, but even then they made the best of it. The number of days when really exciting things happened also far outweighed the number of days when there weren’t any. One of Emma’s highlights was the chance meeting with the Queen of Sweden. The Paralympics were a unique experience to be a part of.
The student herself came up with the idea of applying by chance, but would recommend it to anyone who has at least ten days, is interested in the event and meeting new people, but who can also be flexible and patient. This also fits with Emma’s conclusion about her time at the Paralympics: “I just tried to do everything I could and I think I managed that quite well. Even if you don’t have a good day, it can help to smile at someone, I’ll definitely take that with me! And just do things, it always works out somehow.”
At the games in Los Angeles in four years, many volunteers will again be needed, who will hopefully spread just as much good cheer and fun at the games as the volunteers in Paris.
