Paris 2024: Monegasque volunteer Loïc Pasta’s unforgettable Olympic summer
Prince Albert II with the four volunteers from the Monegasque delegation © Stéphan Maggi / Monaco Olympic Committee
He was the only Monegasque volunteer looking after the Principality’s team. His three other colleagues were from the Netherlands, the USA and France.
Loïc Pasta, 24, was smack dab in the heart of the Paris 2024 Games. Few young Monegasques sports fans get the chance to experience such an adventure. As a volunteer with the Principality’s delegation, Loïc was in the front row of a sporting event that will go down in history.
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“It’s great! It doesn’t get any better than this. We’re in there with the delegation, as close as possible to the athletes, we can really see what’s going on. You get a different view of things. Honestly, it’s awesome,” said the student at Lausanne’s hotel school, during the Games.
Olympic spirit through and through
His Olympic journey began two years ago, when he completed an internship in the international relations department at the Paris Games Organising Committee. “At the time, the Games were still in the planning stage,” he recalls.
After that first experience, he admits that he didn’t want to take the plunge straight away, at least not as a volunteer. Finally, after a few discussions, the young man made his decision: “I said to myself: why not? I then got in touch with the Monaco Olympic Committee, which supported my application.”
“There’s a knight. We’re the squire.”
Loïc was happy to be able to help the members of the Monegasque delegation with their everyday needs. “There’s a knight. We’re the squire,” he jokes, “We’re the little helpers who try to assist the delegation as best we can, to make things go smoothly for them.” He adds: “From a functional and operational point of view, it’s a real pleasure to be of help, day to day.”
“Helping out my country’s team, I couldn’t have hoped for better,” he says with pride. Even tiredness doesn’t diminish his enthusiasm, despite staying 40 minutes away from the Olympic Village. “Tiredness takes a back seat to the constant sense of wonder.”
While the Paris 2024 Games are an important step in his life, Loïc already has new plans. He would like to help organise the Asian Winter Games in Saudi Arabia in 2029.