More than 300,000 applications have been issued to become part of the volunteering team for next year’s Olympics and Paralympics in Paris.
Paris 2024 has revealed the number of
people that have applied for the 45,000 places after the six-week registration
period came to an end on Wednesday (May 3), revealing there was "strong
enthusiasm" for the volunteering programme.
The number of applicants registered for Paris 2024 exceeds
the total for Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.
According to Paris 2024, a third of
the candidates are under the age of 25, more than half are women and one in two
want to participate at both the Olympics and Paralympics.
Among those included some that had
been volunteers when Albertville staged the Winter Olympics and Paralympics in
1992.
French organisers also claimed that
more than 3,000 candidates "declared a specific need due to a
disability" as they bid to become the most inclusive Games yet.
Applicants are expected to be
examined by organisers before those successful are expected to be notified
during September and October.
In early 2024, a volunteer’s
convention is set to be organised in Paris, with training set to begin and
volunteer uniforms due to be unveiled during the same period.
Last month, it emerged that several
French groups opposed to the staging of Paris 2024 were plotting to infiltrate
the volunteering team in a bid to cause disruption at the Games.
Under the plans, entitled the
"hidden work campaign", people were urged to become volunteers before
either going on strike demanding that they should be paid, simply refusing to
turn up or working slowly.
Paris 2024 organisers have vowed to
ensure there is no risk of sabotage during the Games, insisting all volunteers
will be "subject to a prior administrative investigation by the authorized
state service".
The Olympics are due to be held from
July 26 to August 11 next year, followed by the Paralympics from August 28 to
September 8.