in Paris, the fervor of 20,000 volunteers – Libération

Four months before the Games, just half of the 45,000 volunteers gathered at the La Défense Arena stadium, delighted to take part in this common adventure.

“You are the first face that Games customers will see,” we hear echoed in the Paris La Défense Arena stadium, in Nanterre, which will host the swimming, para-swimming events and water polo finals at the Olympic Games and Paralympics Paris 2024. “Yesssssssssssss”, Charlotte, 63, exults without restraint in the pit. This former professor, now retired, will welcome visitors at Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle airport during the Olympics, then provide individual transport for the Paralympic Games. Does staying away from challenges frustrate her? “No way. I feel like I’m in a dream,” she says, amazed.

Like Charlotte, nearly 20,000 Olympic volunteers gathered on Saturday March 23 just a stone’s throw from the Defense Arch, not counting 12,000 others by videoconference, out of a total of 45,000 selected. Coming mainly from Ile-de-France, these volunteers attended a two-hour American-style show launched by Tony Estanguet, president of the Organizing Committee, in the presence of Guillaume Gille, coach of the French team. men’s handball and double Olympic gold medalist.

There were initially 300,000 candidates, compared to 45,000 selected a year ago. Who are they – gender parity has been respected? With 101 departments represented, 20% international volunteers coming from 150 countries, the coverage is wide. A third of the volunteers come from the sporting world, while around 20,000 were presented by partners and sponsors, including companies but also federations, communities, etc. The oldest will be over 90 years old.

“Magic”

At the bottom of the pit, a long line formed to admire the six different medals that will be distributed this summer, and that the organization has displayed. A stone’s throw away, Azeddine, 62, and Erwan, 36, are talking. The technical director of a weightlifting association from Amiens, and the handler and artist from Suresnes (Hauts-de-Seine) did not know each other five minutes ago. “That’s the magic of the Games. We just exchanged numbers, maybe we’ll become friends,” says Azeddine.

Both are impatiently awaiting the deadline. “We already have the atmosphere here,” he continues, very moved. The one who describes himself as “an Olympic curser”, came close. Preselected for the French team for the Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996 Games, he was stopped short by two knee injuries, he recalls, showing a photo of himself with Jacques Chirac. Erwan hopes that his mission as a driver will allow him to meet athletes and offer them his paintings. “Perhaps they will relay them on their social networks, that would help me. I hope to make a living from my art one day,” he confides.

In the crowd, ecstatic smiles cross everyone’s faces. Annie, a 67-year-old retired engineer, came with her godson. “We prefer to participate in the Olympics rather than seeing them on TV, or having to endure them, with the disruption that it will cause for us,” she shares. Its town, Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, will host, among others, track cycling, golf and mountain biking events.

“Is that the spirit of the Games?”

One laugh is perhaps more audible than all the others. “It’s a pure joy to be here,” confirms Jawhard, 28. On the stands, she has fun with her friends following the activity offered in the room, miming sports like archery or boxing. Suffering from Williams-Beuren syndrome, a rare genetic disease causing mental retardation and a heart defect, the Sarcelloise came with around thirty other people from Caj Cap Avenir, a residential home for disabled adults. “It gives us wings, we are capable of doing that,” she says proudly. Eleven supervisors will accompany them to the Games. In total, 5% of volunteers have a physical or mental disability, compared to 14% in France, estimates the Drees.

This Saturday, the volunteers also discovered the next steps, starting with the communication of their individual schedules in April. “Finally!” exclaims Victoire, 68 years old. “It was blocking me from organizing my vacation with my four grandchildren,” explains this retiree from Saint-Ouen. A neighbor wonders why a platform for connecting volunteers with housing has not been launched, she who has three free rooms in Melun, in Seine-et-Marne.

Faced with all this fervor, Patrick remains unmoved. The Parisian teacher prefers to read the press on his phone, annoyed. “I wonder what we’re doing here. Tony Estanguet, who earns several tens of thousands of euros, welcoming altruistic volunteers… Is that the spirit of the Games?”