The head of Paris 2024 himself said it: the Olympic Games could not have been held without the volunteers. Dressed in uniforms provided by the organization and envied by the whole world, these 45,000 volunteers gave their all during the four Olympic and Paralympic weeks. In return, they asked for nothing more than a little gratitude, and to keep what made them special: their outfits. So, when they learned that ordinary mortals could afford this token of recognition at a low price at flea markets, the volunteers saw red.
Several dozen people responded to the request of 20 Minutes about the Paris 2024 initiative to organize sales to sell the remaining stocks of outfits, goodies and other gifts made to these same volunteers. Unanimously, they were initially surprised to learn that there were stocks. “Being a volunteer during these games, the Cojo [comité d’organisation des Jeux] didn’t want to replace my lost bob because they didn’t have any more. And there you have it, the games are over and the stock has been sold off,” complains Dimbi, 64. “Some volunteers had a bob or part of the top of their outfit or something else stolen and the managers told them there was nothing left,” adds Choucky, also in his sixties. It’s as if this bob was the crux of the matter, since many of them have seen theirs disappear without being able to get a new one from the organization.
“A lousy business”
Not replacing lost or stolen items, besides finding it petty, some of the volunteers see it as a financial windfall: “even if there is a desire to reuse, I see it much more as a desire to make money,” grumbles Guillaume, 36. Gilles, another sixty-year-old, feels “betrayed” for “commercial reasons.” “A lousy business,” says Alain. And if it means selling these items, Virginie would have liked the volunteers to have been given priority “to simply replace or complete our range of souvenirs.”
Except that this is not what hurts the volunteers the most. For them, the real “betrayal” of the Olympic Committee is to allow anyone to “strut around” in volunteer uniform, as Alain deplores. “I was so proud to be able to wear the uniform knowing that only volunteers had it. It was our way of recognizing ourselves,” explains Virginie, 45, who saw it as a “gift” in thanks for the volunteers’ investment.
“The outfit was the privilege of the volunteers”
“I wanted to feel special, unique with my 45,000 fellow volunteers, recognized. The party is ruined for me and leaves me with a bitter taste,” says Virginie, disgusted. Same for Denis: “we gave our time and our sweat without any other compensation than a meal per day, a transport card and a volunteer outfit. The outfit was the privilege of the volunteers, the pride of the volunteers.”
Alain, for his part, does not specify whether he was a volunteer or not. Nevertheless, he finds it “very good that the Cojo cuts the grass under the feet of these people”. For him, their “attitude is lamentable”, estimating that “many of them only signed up for this lousy business”. He is probably referring to the flood of volunteer uniform pieces on resale sites like Le Bon coin or Vinted from the beginning of August. At the time, 20 Minutes had noted insane prices on these platforms: 230 euros for a bobble hat, 150 euros for a t-shirt or 70 euros for a badge holder. Much more expensive than the prices offered on official sales, which range from 1 to 30 euros.