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A 70,000-strong volunteer army from across the globe is helping to put on the 2012 Olympics, giving up their free time or holidays in return for a part in the biggest show on Earth.<\/p>\n
Teachers, lawyers and students are among the \u201cGames Makers\u201d eagerly taking a role in London\u2019s Olympic adventure and relishing the chance to rub shoulders with global sporting superstars.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I would probably be dead when the Olympics come here again,\u201d said Sophie Dickson, 25.<\/p>\n
The dental assistant is splitting her time between her job at private clinics in Sussex, southeast England, and the dentist\u2019s surgery in the Athletes\u2019 Village on the Olympic Park.<\/p>\n
Dickson is wearing the volunteers\u2019 easily recognizable uniform of a fuschia and orange polo shirt with beige trousers\u2014an umbrella is also among the \u201cGames Makers\u201d equipment, in expectation of some traditional London rain.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am going to miss Kim Collins, unfortunately,\u201d she said of the former 100 meters world champion, who was due to pop in to the clinic just as she rushed to the station after seven-hour shift.<\/p>\n
But she had a bigger star in her sights\u2014\u201chopefully Usain Bolt will pop in,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Lynne Wright, a technical manager for a fragrance company and a big sports fan, has given up two weeks\u2019 holiday\u2014\u201calmost half of my annual leave\u201d\u2014to help out with transport in the athletes\u2019 village.<\/p>\n
While she is working for free to help get the athletes around the huge site, her own journey to and from the Olympic Park in Stratford, east London, from her home outside the capital comes at a price.<\/p>\n
The two-hour train journey each way, plus expenses, \u201cwill cost me about \u00a31,000 ($1,550, 1,280 euros)\u201d, she said\u2014although she does not doubt that it\u2019s all worth it.<\/p>\n
The 70,000 volunteers at the Olympics and the Paralympics which follow are drawn from 70 countries and were whittled down from 250,000 who applied.<\/p>\n
They receive a free travel pass for the duration of the Games, but it only covers them up to the London boundary.<\/p>\n
Other volunteers are spending several nights camping on the edge of the Olympic Park, to get round the costly and delay-prone transport system.<\/p>\n
Physical education teacher Ros Cramp is among those spending a few nights under canvas. Her pupils are begging her to bring back some autographs.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I won\u2019t ask for any autographs. That would be impolite,\u201d said Cramp, who is working as part of the service team supporting officials\u2014and in any case, she probably won\u2019t be getting close enough to the athletes to ask.<\/p>\n
However, Rob Williams, who is helping out the swimmers at the Aquatics Centre, certainly will.<\/p>\n
The Canadian lawyer has already enjoyed watching 16-time American Olympic medalist Michael Phelps in training.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is an institution,\u201d said Williams, who himself boasts a swimmer\u2019s physique.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to be calm. You have to help the whole team and not just one person,\u201d he said. \u201cBut it\u2019s great to see my heroes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Several lifeguards, also volunteers, are posted around the edge of the pool, closely watching the Chinese synchronised swimming team in training.<\/p>\n
Among the volunteers is geography student Tom Hunt.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know why they need lifeguards,\u201d he admitted, \u201cbut it\u2019s great to be here\u201d.<\/p>\n
Sam Kendall, a teacher, has been posted to help the Ugandan team in the athletes\u2019 village.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they want to tour London, if some people want to buy a camera, if they are looking for a venue, I can help,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, she got to stand in the shoes of the athletes, by carrying a flag during the final rehearsal for the opening ceremony.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou give a lot, but you get a lot back,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
Photo by AFP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A 70,000-strong volunteer army from across the globe is helping to put on the 2012 Olympics, giving up their free time or holidays in return for a part in the biggest show on Earth. Teachers, lawyers and students are among the \u201cGames Makers\u201d eagerly taking a role in London\u2019s Olympic adventure and relishing the chance […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ubune.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/734"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ubune.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ubune.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ubune.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ubune.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=734"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/ubune.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/734\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":736,"href":"http:\/\/ubune.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/734\/revisions\/736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ubune.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ubune.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ubune.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}