Paris 2024 Olympic Games: ambassadors and volunteers at the Games… the fabulous adventure of high school students from Occitanie

Une soirée inoubliable au Stade de France pour le sacre de Dupont et sa bande. DR

28 élèves de l’académie de Montpellier vivent depuis six ans au rythme des JO. La plupart y œuvrent comme volontaires bénévoles. Avec des étoiles au fond des yeux.

Treading the Stade de France. Immersing yourself in Paris in the middle of the Olympic celebrations after more than five years of preparation… We're not talking about athletes, but about high school students from Languedoc and Roussillon, members of the Olympic class “generation 2024” and integrated into the Paris-2024 volunteer teams.

Created six years ago, these classes bring together in each academy 28 5th grade students from different establishments and selected based on their academic and sporting success, their attraction to the Olympic Games, and their motivation.

Six years of immersion in the Olympics 

Visits, missions, presentations, meetings with top regional athletes such as Kevin Mayer and Delphine Le Sausse: for six years these young ambassadors have immersed in the heritage and values ​​of Olympism, disability awareness, and relayed them to their classmates.

Read also:“We met Kevin Mayer”: these high school students from the region have been living the Paris 2024 adventure for 5 years in an Olympic class

The class was physically brought together once a year for internships that allowed them, among other things, to visit Insep, the French Olympic Committee, Roland-Garros or to learn Breakdancing. But participating in the Games was in a way the ultimate stage of their dream. And this came true when they were all offered a volunteer position.

“A human adventure from all walks of life”

“Unfortunately, out of the 28 students, half had to give up the adventure due to lack of accommodation in Paris, and some of them had their rental price ultimately quadrupled”, laments Karine Pager. The PE teacher at the Argelès-sur-Mer middle school was also the main teacher of this class with Sabine Nadal, PE teacher at Castelnaudary.

They carried the project forward with Christine Fil, their academic inspector, and Karine also relishes as a reward with an incomparable flavor an experience as a volunteer at the aquatic center, near the Stade de France: “I am responsible for pampering the athletes, accompanying them to the warm-up pool, in front of the media, and responding to any request. There is a fabulous atmosphere between all the volunteers, it is a human adventure of all ages, all backgrounds, all regions."

“We'll only experience this once”

The same weightless enthusiasm for Théo, in charge of welcoming spectators at the Parc des Princes. “I'm a fan of all sports so I'm having a blast, assures the young man from Aude. It's really well organized, we meet people who come from other countries. We know that we'll only experience this in France once in our life."

"But as volunteers, they will be given priority for the Los Angeles Games",smiles Sabine Nadal, as if to open up a perspective for them. The 28 students and their teachers have already been entitled to places offered by the Regional Academic Delegation for Youth, Engagement and Sports (DRAJES), which allowed us to experience the memorable coronation of Antoine Dupont and his band at the Stade de France.

"Like a link in the chain that will never break"

Like a huge candle on the cake, Karine Pager had the supreme honor of carrying the Olympic flame during the relay in Collioure, in May, just like Lucas, a student from the class in situation disability. "An intense moment of emotion. We feel like a link in the chain that will never break", slips the teacher who will accompany Sabine with students from other classes 5 and September 6 on Paralympic events.

Coming across Claude Onesta or an Olympic medalist: during an evening at the France club, other little pleasures to light up a few extra stars in the depths of your eyes. Something tells us that they will shine there forever.

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