The drama of volunteers at the Olympic Games of Paris 2024

A year and a half before the inauguration of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, today the application process opens for anyone who wants to participate as a volunteer. There are a total of 45,000 places, although the organization expects to receive between three and four times more applications than previous editions. Between April and September, all applications will be reviewed for what they refer to as an “extreme adventure”.

Behind the illusion created by some Olympic Games, however, there is also a less beautiful parallel reality. The drama of the volunteers is that they do not get any financial compensation for their work, with an established limit of 10 hours a day and 48 hours a week. Those who do not live in Paris do not have transport aid nor can they enjoy the accommodation in the capital provided by the organization.

A big problem, because it is one of the most expensive cities in the world, where high demand will trigger rental prices. The IOC will only take care of food for the volunteers, something that otherwise is not new: “This event has existed for more than a century. In the beginning, the army provided help, until the citizens also wanted to contribute”, he explained. Arnaud SauroisProfessor of Sports Management at the University of Poitiers.

In lieu, and for reference, Tony Estanguet, head of the organization, earns 270,000 euros gross per year. Participation in an Olympic Games, however, is more than economic: “Volunteers are the first faces of this event and contribute to improving the environment during the competition,” he said in October to RMC Sport Alexandre Morenon-Condéhead of the volunteer program at the Olympic Games in Athens 2004. This time they also had to consider the shortages.