Being a volunteer at the Olympic and Paralympic Games, for Philippe Eysseric from Bagnolais “an unforgettable experience”

Après les JO, Philippe Eysseric est de retour à Paris pour être volontaire aux Jeux Paralympiques. D.R.

Le Bagnolais Philippe Eysseric, entraîneur au Bagnols Marcoule Athlétisme, a été volontaire aux Jeux Olympiques et l’est de nouveau pour les Jeux Paralympiques.

Since Monday, August 26, Philippe Eysseric from Bagnolais has been back in Paris. A volunteer at the Olympic Games, the coach of BMA (Bagnols Marcoule Athletics) has also signed up for the Paralympic Games (JP), whose opening ceremony takes place on Wednesday, August 28. “Only about 30% of Olympic volunteers also do the Paralympic Games. As for the Olympic Games, I will be at the information center but this time not in the Olympic village but at the Stade de France” explains the sixty-year-old sports enthusiast. On Monday afternoon, he had already attended“the big mass” with the volunteers at the Stade de France. “The Paralympic Games should be more relaxed. There are fewer stakes” he thinks.

At the Olympic village, “a real melting pot”

From his mission at the Olympic village, the Bagnolais returned with his head full of memories. Such as the first gathering of the 2,800 volunteers assigned to the Olympic Village out of the 45,000 recruited for the Olympic Games, and of course, the meetings with athletes from different countries who “wandered around the Olympic Village. A real melting pot! We had instructions not to bother the athletes for their concentration”.

Philippe Eysseric was able to observe that“people manage to live together without shelling each other. There were South Koreans, North Koreans, Palestinians, Israelis… political refugees who rubbed shoulders with athletes from countries they had fled". A peaceful interlude with “the feeling of being on another planet, with gentleness, tranquility, without animosity".

Some moments "a little heated" also, in particular because of "the digital divide. Everything is digitalized and some delegations were not very comfortable with digital. We had to struggle to register for the events".

From his time at the Olympic village, the BMA throwing coach also remembers the experiences shared with the volunteers, "young and old, all passionate about sport. These exchanges gave me ideas for training at the BMA".

"The wheelchairs of the Paralympic athletes are Formula 1 !"

For the JP, the Bagnolais, with his experience, feels more confident. And also because he was a judge at the French championship for adapted sport. Admiring athletes with disabilities, he knows that the JP events will be impressive. “The athletes' chairs are Formula 1s, unique prototypes” he admires.

On the last day of the JP, September 8, Philippe Eysseric will be on a mission from 5 a.m. for the Olympic marathon that will start at 8 a.m. And from September 11, he will resume his training at the Bagnols athletics club, enriched by this “unforgettable experience“.

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