Montreal nurse among Canadians volunteering at Milan Winter Games

Thousands of volunteers are behind every medal ceremony, event, and more. Many travel from around the world to take part in volunteering. Heather Butts reports.

Anywhere you look during the winter games in Milan, you’ll spot a colourful uniform, typically accompanied by a matching backpack. The person wearing it is part of a small army, whose 18-thousand volunteers are spread across northern Italy. This group keeps the Olympics running smoothly around the clock, with pride.

“It brings me a lot of enthusiasm to know the Olympics are held in a country where I am from,” said Giulia Restelli, a proud Italian volunteer, who said she couldn’t miss out on the experience of contributing to something as unique as the games.

Most of the volunteers – 86 per cent – are from the host country, Italy, while the rest is a group of diverse backgrounds and nationalities. They are proud to put their country on display.

For them, volunteering is also about meeting people from other countries and sharing that unique bond.

“It’s nice to exchange and get a bit of each other, because it’s stronger, its really more powerful if we put a lot of countries together and all the stories together… it becomes something unique and really enriching,” Restelli told CTV News at the main media centre.

“It’s something that I’m giving, but I’m also getting a lot more back. It’s an exchange that I would suggest to anyone to experience in their own life,” Restelli, who’s typically a volunteer at the speed skating arena, said.

Volunteers fill about 70 different roles at the Games. They are behind every Olympic medal ceremony, competition and spectator experience. The jobs can vary from being hands-on in dealing with athletes or venue set-up, while others work as greeters and spectators’ assistants.

“I think they are essential. They are at the very heart of the games,” Irene Marcatto, head of the volunteers program with the Milano Cortina organizing committee, said.

Volunteers are part of the tradition at the Games since 1948. They are often the first and last people athletes and fans encounter. They’re not just from the host country. Roughly two thousand have come from abroad.

That includes Claire Provost, a Montreal nurse who is staying with a family friend in Milan so she can volunteer.

A lifelong athlete, Provost once had high hopes of being an Olympic ski-racer. Volunteering is another way for her to live out that dream.

“It is a different experience of being an athlete and being a volunteer, but it is still a dream come true for me to come to the Olympics and participate, and help out,” Provost, a first-time volunteer, said.

CTV News caught up with her and a fellow volunteer from the U.S. between shifts at the hockey arena, where they were signed up for a volunteer position they thought might be reserved for a “professional.”

“Before we got here, we got a zoom call and they said, ‘yeah you’re going to be shots on goal.’ I was like ‘what? okay sure fun!’” said Provost, with a laugh.

While she has a competitive sports background, this adventure has been rewarding and fun, allowing her to connect with people from around the globe, she said.

“It’s been a dream, a really nice experience… meeting all these other volunteers, people, and also seeing behind-the-scenes of what actually happens,” Provost said.

Part of the vast workforce who answered the call and were willing to give time and energy to the cause, now belong to a community that goes beyond sport.

“How many people can say they have friends that they met at the Olympic, it’s really cool,” Lindsay McGowan, one of the volunteers and Provost’s new friends, said.

The two, new friends plan to volunteer together at other games, after they wrap up their duty at the Olympics in Milan.