The volunteers of the 3rd Mediterranean Beach Games are the precious gems of the Heraklion event. They have a bright smile and their contribution to the Games is invaluable. Some of them have travelled several kilometres to come to Crete and offer their services.

A large group of them are already volunteers working for the Paris Olympics. Others simply love sports and some have chosen it as a subject and a course of their studies. All of them are here in Heraklion.

The “Parisians” of the organization chose to volunteer for the Games in order to be even better trained and ready in a year from now, for the Olympic Games. “You only learn better when you work in an event that is like a micro Olympics! It’s amazing to work walking on the sand and by the sea, in such a pleasant environment,” noted French Annabelle Fagoaga, a Paris 2024 worker.

His colleague at Paris 2024, Estelle Brice, pointed out: “I wanted to see first-hand how a multi-sport event is run. I want to learn by working in the field.” Quentin Wargnier is also working for the Paris Games. He had the same motivation as his colleagues and added: “It’s very important to understand what the needs of an event are, but also of the athletes. I wanted that knowledge, but I also wanted to have fun.” Roman Granger wanted to be ready before the Paris Olympics, in something else as well: “You learn from the good points of an event so you can do them yourself, but you also learn how to overcome the setbacks and the unexpected things that can happen, to be better prepared next time.”

Ronald Cruz made the longest journey of all: “I came from Brazil. I travelled for two days to come to Crete and experience the 3rd Mediterranean Beach Games in person. I finished my master’s degree in sports management and came here to enrich my knowledge. I learned other valuable things, like souvlaki with pie! It’s incredible. I eat it all the time. I would like to be offered some Cretan dishes to try, because after the games I will go to Chania for holidays.”

Ronald speaks the same language as Paula Ferreira from Portugal, who is also in Heraklion as a volunteer. “It’s easy to communicate. We have the same language as you Greeks and Cypriots,” pointed out our Brazilian volunteer. Paula works for the pentathlon federation of Portugal and she was here for the triathle. “I could leave after my race, but who leaves from here?” she said with a laugh, adding: “I really wanted to stay and experience the races to the end.” Kerstin Imilchik came to Greece from Germany. “I love sports and especially basketball. This is my first experience as a volunteer and I love it so much!”

Peruvian, Patrick Salazar Caso, has been in Europe since June for the European Games. There he became a volunteer helper for the Italian team, which suggested that he follow them to Crete: “I love sports and volunteering. Half a year ago I couldn’t imagine being here, but I loved it. It was suggested to me by the Italian team and I thought why not? Of course, in between Krakow and Crete I did a bit of tourism.”

The third Latino volunteer is the Venezuelan Ruben Pulido, who arrived in Crete from Malta, where he works. “I really like volunteering and sports. I volunteered at the Youth Olympics in Argentina and I really wanted to experience it again. I am enjoying this experience.”

Melina Manthoulis is also half-Venezuelan. The other half of her ancestry is betrayed by her full name. Melina – with her not totally fluent Greek – works for the international relations of the Paris Olympics, having taken charge of the American continent. She too wanted to gain experience ahead of the 2024 Games. “I really loved the warmth and caring of the people here. As soon as they found out I was vegan they made sure 10% of the meals were suitable for vegetarians.”

The kids from Paris also left us a message in their language: “Rendez-vous a Paris pour les Jeux Olympiques et Paralympiques en 2024”