Speed Skating Shift 2 & 3 - Part 9
- Isabelle Morin
- Feb 13
- 5 min read
Updated: Feb 14
I think you’ve all figured it out by now… being a volunteer at the Olympics — and landing a great spot — is almost entirely a matter of luck. So far, I feel like I’ve got a horseshoe up my arse! On my second shift (and Dave’s first at Speed Skating), we were given a black dot. Because there was also a hockey game happening at the same time, right across from the speed skating arena, there were far more volunteers than the day before, as a result, it was pure chaos trying to find our group. As mentioned above, we had once again won the lottery and were moved inside, to the same area as my previous shift, but this time I was assigned to door A2/A3.
I remembered from my first shift that there was press (or something similar) past A2, and that we were supposed to warn spectators about it. But since it hadn’t been my exact post last time, I had no idea what I was supposed to know in order to inform people properly. When I asked the supervisor (the one who is actually paid to be there), she said, “No, there’s nothing special past A2.” Hmmm… I had my doubts. The “tunnel” between A1/A2 and A2/A3 made it pretty obvious that something was going on there.
When the doors opened, two hours before the event, it didn’t take long for spectators with A1 tickets to be turned around — I don’t know by whom, because it happened inside the tunnel. Curious, I went to A1/A2 to investigate. Another volunteer, who had been there the previous shift, told me that there was indeed a press section in the tunnel between A1/A2 and A2/A3, so anyone with A1 or A2 seats had to enter through A2/A3 door. Only people with accreditation could go through the tunnel. My first instinct was to verify this with the supervisor. This time, she said she would check “with higher.” Turns out… I was right! From that moment on, my spot became much busier than during my first shift. First, I had to redirect anyone with an A1 seat to my door, and second, I had to stop anyone without accreditation from going past it, and that was a lot of people. Why? Because, like me, many spectators love to walk around the entire stadium during events. But with a section of bleachers reserved for press, it wasn’t possible to walk the full loop, so most of the people I stopped were simply curious fans wanting to stretch their legs.
I also got different questions on that shift, such as: “Where do we put strollers?” and “Where is the hospitality lounge?” No surprise, we hadn’t been briefed on any of this. The stroller answer was easy (it was on the map they gave us). As for the hospitality lounge, since I knew I was at one end of the arena and that nothing but press was past A2, I guessed it was at the opposite end, around A17 or A18. After our shift, we learned it was indeed at A18.
It was a great shift, busy, so it flew by. Since I had been standing at the bottom of the stairs for the first half of the race, I was moved into the stands and got to witness the second half the competition. The race that day was the men’s 5000m. We had one Canadian hopeful (Ted-Jan Bloemen), who didn’t place. A Norwegian won and set a new Olympic record that day.
I stayed for the medal ceremony, which made it painfully clear that not all supervisors receive the same instructions. Let me explain… On our side (west gate), we were told that spectators could not stand by the glass barrier at the bottom of the bleachers and could not hang flags on it. These rules were respected throughout the race, but as soon as it ended and preparations for the medal ceremony began, many spectators started hanging flags and gathering by the barrier. My response volunteer began asking people to move back and remove their flags, but he was quickly shown the opposite side of the stadium, where flags were hanging everywhere. He decided it wasn’t worth the battle and the flags stayed. It’s quite something to divide such a massive arena into eight zones and expect everyone to enforce the same rules. This shift made it very clear to me that even the paid supervisors weren’t adequately trained. But as Dave often says, “Nobody died!” I do find it strange that they rotate paid supervisors to different locations every day. How can a process become a well‑oiled machine if the people running it change constantly? I get that some jobs really suck and no one wants to be stuck with the same awful task for the entire Games, but maybe supervisors could rotate between just two spots… Enough complaining — overall, it works, and this is by far the best unpaid job I’ve ever had!
Shift #3
Just like my second shift, the group assignment was chaotic, but it looked like the horseshoe was still doing its magic because for my third shift at the Arena (for the women’s 1000m), I got another inside position, this time at Gate A13/A14. I expected four volunteers at my door (like my first two shifts), but strangely, there were only two of us to cover both the bottom of the stairs and the usher role in the bleachers.
When I first met my response volunteer that day, he looked far too serious, and I worried he wouldn’t be very flexible. When I told the girl working with me that I didn’t care how we split the tasks as long as I could watch the Canadian skater (Beatrice Lamarche), who was in the last wave and a medal hopeful, she told me she’d had the same response volunteer the day before and that he was very strict about switching spots at a precise time. I figured I might need to turn on the “Isabelle charm” to make my wish happen. When he came to explain our roles, I quickly asked if we could decide ourselves when to switch. He said he had no problem with that! Looks like the charm worked. (I also gave him a Canada pin, those things go a long way here!)
I hadn’t realized this during my first two shifts, but the only entrance to the arena is at Gate 14. That meant that I saw about 80% of the spectators entering that day. The only ones I didn’t see were those who stayed between Gates 15 and 18. It was a very busy shift because I was one of the first volunteers spectators encountered inside the arena, so I got a lot of questions — all easy ones this time, thankfully. There was also a giant Olympic rings poster beside my spot, so many people asked me to take their photo, which I happily did. In summary, I stood in front of A13/A14 for three hours, greeting people and dancing to the pop music playing in the background. It put a smile on a lot of faces.
As with every race, the arena was 80% orange. The Dutch hadn’t reached the podium in the previous two competitions, but my third shift (9 February) turned out to be “Orange Day,” as they captured both gold and silver. As spectators left the stadium, I interacted with many very happy Dutch fans. The best moment was without a doubt running into the two guys I had met in the Metro after my first shift! We all recognized each other instantly and hugged.
The magic of the Games is everywhere — everyone becomes your friend. Even my response volunteer, who had looked so serious at first, wouldn’t let me leave without a hug.
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