Venue Training: Week Three

This has been the most exciting and beneficial week of my ONS experience thus far.

I have had numerous opportunities to interview Olympic athletes and their coaching staff.

This work has sharpened my quote-taking ability and interview skills, as well as introduced me to some of the athletes I may need to meet again in the Mixed Zone once the official competition begins.

I was also asked to write a couple of news articles for INFO.

I really enjoyed compiling these and learnt a lot from our International Manager about the preferred style of this news service.

Unfortunately I, along with half of my team, still do not have the full Olympic volunteer uniform.

I have all of it except the pants but this still makes me feel like I’m not being fully professional.

We were originally told that we would receive them before the games begin but now we are being told that we may not receive them at all.

This problem has occurred at other venues as well and it is definitely an issue BOCOG must address.

Our International Manager is frustrated that we can’t all wear the correct uniform and I hope this will not affect my work opportunities during the games.

Problems with accreditation and access occurred again through this week but these issues should not arise once our focus turns to the Mixed Zone.

Another benefit of this final week of training has been learning how to deal with athletes.

Some swimmers from smaller nations are happy to chat with ONS but bigger countries such as Australia and Great Britain denied us access to their athletes on pool deck.

I’m looking forward to tomorrow and I feel as though I am prepared as I possibly can be for what it will bring.

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