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Over 242,000 apply to work at Rio Olympics

RIO DE JANEIRO — Organisers of the 2016 Olympics and Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro have closed recruitment for volunteers, registering 242,757 applicants for 70,000 unpaid positions — 45,000 for the Olympics and 25,000 for the Paralympics.

RIO DE JANEIRO — Organisers of the 2016 Olympics and Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro have closed recruitment for volunteers, registering 242,757 applicants for 70,000 unpaid positions — 45,000 for the Olympics and 25,000 for the Paralympics.

The original deadline of Nov 15 was extended by a month when organisers struggled to find recruits after they had hoped to see 300,000 register — a number they later said was too high.

Organisers said volunteers came from all of Brazil’s 26 states, the federal district of Brasilia and 192 countries. After Brazil, the leading registrations were from the United States, Russia, China and Britain.

“We are very pleased with the volume and particularly the diversity of applicants in the programme,” said Flavia Fontes, Rio 2016 Volunteer Program manager.

The applicants were 55 per cent female and 45 per cent male.

Volunteers perform a range of jobs such as greeting fans and escorting athletes. They must pay for their lodging and transport to the host city. They get transport to venues and meals on the days they work, training and uniforms. They must be willing to work for at least 10 days, but many work much more.

Volunteers also fill jobs that require advanced training, including doctors. Organisers said selection of the 70,000 would begin in March.

Volunteers help the local organising committee save a large sum. The International Olympic Committee published a study of the 2000 Olympics in Sydney that showed unpaid volunteers saving organisers about US$60 million (S$78.8 million). Sydney used only 40,000 volunteers.

The operating budget for the Rio Games is US$3 billion, which is the cost of running the games themselves.

Overall, Rio is spending about US$20 billion — a mix of public and private money — to build sporting and urban infrastructure to prepare for South America’s first Olympics.

Brazil spent about US$15 billion on this year’s World Cup. AP

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