OLYMPICS/ Volunteers
Olympic volunteer applicants go new high
(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-08-01 15:04
More than 560,000 have applied to be volunteers for the Beijing Olympics and the Special Olympic Games by Tuesday, almost a year after the recruitment began, outnumbering any of the games in the history of the world's largest sports gala.
More than 310,000, or more than half of the 560,000 applicants are from Beijing and 6.5 percent are residents outside the mainland China, according to the latest statistics released by the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2008 Olympic Games (BOCOG).
Most of the applicants are aged below 36 with bachelor degrees or higher educational level.
Women account for 58.1 percent of the applicants.
A total of 100,000 Games-time volunteers will be chosen for the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games, with about 70,000 for the Olympic Games and about 30,000 for the Paralympic Games, both exceeding the figures of the Athens Olympics, whose applicant and volunteer numbers set a then-record high.
Around 160,000 volunteer applications were received before the 2004 Athens Olympics while 60,000 were finally offered volunteer positions.
While the chosen shall be arranged to provide services in Olympic venues, officials with BOCOG had noted that those also-rans may be recruited as a "City's Volunteer", who would be working at designated spots across the city to ensure the smooth progress of the Games and regular operations of the city during the Olympics.
Applicants will have trainings on the Olympic-relating knowledge, basic regulations and skills before they become qualified volunteers, according to the head with the Volunteer Department of BOCOG.
Nearly 5,000 volunteers are serving during the ongoing "Good Luck Beijing Series", according to earlier report.
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