The task should be quite easy for the organizers. On Thursday, May 4, the Paris Olympics Organizing Committee registered "more than 300,000 applications" to become volunteers at the Games when the registration period opened six weeks ago. In total, the committee needs 45,000 volunteers to support the Olympic sequence in France. Volunteers will be able, in particular, to help and guide athletes and spectators around the world. They had until Wednesday, May 3 to register. At the last score, at the end of April, more than 200,000 had applied, according to the Paris 2024 organizing committee.
The committee welcomed this "strong enthusiasm for its program", a third of the candidates are under 25, according to a statement to AFP, and 55% are women. Some "were already volunteers at the Albertville Olympics and want to get involved again," the CoJo also said.
The criteria were simple: be at least 18 years old on January 1, 2024, speak French or/and English and be at least ten days available in the summer of 2024. As always, candidates exceed the necessary requirements, namely 30,000 volunteers for the Olympic Games (from July 26 to August 11, 2024) and 15,000 for the Paralympic Games (from August 28 to September 8). A strong contingent, if we compare the 12,000 volunteers who officiated during the 1998 Football World Cup in France, or the approximately 8,000 at the Winter Olympics in Albertville in 1992. "More than 3,000 candidates declared a specific need due to a disability, an unprecedented level for a volunteer program in France, and in line with the objective shared by Paris 2024 and the State", also notes the Cojo. One out of two candidates wants to compete in both the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games.
In Seine-Saint-Denis, where elected officials and in particular the PS president of the department Stéphane Troussel are concerned that the poorest department in France does not miss out on the Olympic meeting, 1,900 inhabitants have been supported, in particular via training, to maximize their chances. The city of Paris, host city of the Games, also needs some 5,000 people, who will be in the streets of the capital in addition to the 45,000 volunteers of the Organizing Committee.
The candidates – destined to become the "faces of the Games", as committee boss Tony Estanguet repeatedly puts it – will now go through the selection process. They have already answered some 200 questions, like a personality test. Among the situations posed, here are two examples:
What I have the least indulgence for :1. the inability to think2. lack of initiativeI prefer…1. thinking outside the box to find new solutions2. work for an organization that helps make the world a better place
Nearly 60% of the missions assigned to them are dedicated to hosting (public, media, etc.) for the Games where nearly ten million spectators are expected. For more sporting missions (just over a third), such as raking the sand of the long jump pit or picking up the balls, the sports federations will also propose their candidates, who exceptionally can be at least 16 years old. Some candidates will already be selected for test events which will take place this summer, but the vast majority of candidates will be chosen by the end of 2023. "There will be some disappointed", has already warned Tony Estanguet.
Most of the Olympic and Paralympic events will take place in Paris and Île-de-France, with the exception of sailing (Marseille), shooting (Châteauroux), basketball for the group stages and handball for the finals. (Lille), football and surfing in Tahiti. It will thus take around 5,000 volunteers outside Île-de-France. To govern these "volunteers" and guard against any risk of litigation, the organizing committee has drawn up a charter for "Olympic and Paralympic volunteerism".
The Court of Auditors, in a report on the Olympics published in January, recommended to be "particularly vigilant on the application of its provisions and, in particular, on the principles of eligibility, the categories of missions and the respect of the principles of exclusion of some of them". Another parameter to take into account for the Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games: flush out possible false applications from anti-Olympic activists who have announced, on social networks, their intention to infiltrate the network of volunteers. The volunteers will be, like the accredited ones, subjected to screening, that is to say to an administrative inquiry.
