By Anietie anii-bassey
Behind every Olympic medal ceremony, roaring crowd and flawless competition schedule stands a vast, largely unseen workforce that keeps the Games running around the clock.
At the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, that workforce includes roughly 18,000 volunteers spread across northern Italy, forming a sea of navy blue uniforms at venues from city arenas to Alpine slopes.
Among them are seasoned veterans who first answered the call two decades ago when Italy last hosted the Winter Games in Turin in 2006. For many, volunteering is not simply about assisting athletes or guiding spectators — it is about reliving a transformative chapter of their lives and passing on the Olympic spirit to a new generation.
Cristina Romagnoli remembers temporarily setting aside her Italian identity to support Ireland’s athletes during the Turin Games. Assigned to the Irish delegation in the Alps west of the city, she and her fellow volunteers worked nearly nonstop.
“We were supporting the team almost 24 hours a day,” she recalled. “To thank the work of the volunteers, they even invited us to parade with them during the closing ceremony.”
At 25, Romagnoli embraced the experience with youthful energy. Though smartphones were not yet ubiquitous and she has only a handful of photographs from those weeks, she carefully preserved mementos — her volunteer handbook, collectible pins and even meal vouchers — as reminders of a moment she describes as life-changing.
When Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo were awarded the 2026 Games, Romagnoli did not hesitate to apply again. Now 45 and living in her hometown of Milan, she is stationed at the short track speedskating venue, helping ensure competitions and training sessions run smoothly.
Her responsibilities range from assisting athletes with equipment and clothing to maintaining safety features around the rink, such as protective cushions. “It is about giving our availability and support for the whole competition,” she said. “Any need there might be either during the game or during the training sessions as well.”
For Romagnoli, volunteering is also a lesson in values. She hopes her two daughters, ages 10 and 11, will one day take up the mantle. “I wanted them to breathe what is really the Olympic spirit, the Olympic sports values,” she said. “I hope that when they have the right age to participate, they will do it either in my place or together with me.”
Angela Frisina’s Olympic journey began at a very different stage of life. She was 50 during the Turin Games, feeling caught in a routine of work and family obligations. When a colleague suggested volunteering, she saw an opportunity to break the cycle.
Born in Reggio Calabria and raised in Turin, Frisina felt a deep connection to her adopted city and wanted to contribute. She was assigned to a hotel hosting sponsors and international delegations, helping guests navigate venues, find restaurants and locate souvenir shops.
The experience, she said, opened her world. “I didn’t go to the cinema. Just work, son, home,” she said. “And for me, these Olympic Games opened the window. The door!”
In the years that followed, Frisina joined a Turin Olympics volunteer alumni group and continued offering her time at major events across Italy, including the Eurovision Song Contest in 2022 and last year’s Vatican Jubilee.
Now 70, the grandmother — or “nonna,” as she proudly describes herself — is back in uniform, serving as an usher at the women’s ice hockey arena in suburban Milan. She guides spectators to their seats and greets visitors from across the globe. Between shifts, she video calls her 5-year-old grandson to recount stories of the people she has met.
Even without leaving Italy, she says, the Games have allowed her to “visit all the world” through conversations with fans and athletes from distant countries.
For Olivia Azzalin, the Olympics shaped not only her sense of purpose but her family itself. She worked for Turin’s local organizing committee in the early 2000s as a sport director assistant. During the intense preparations for the 2006 Games, she fell in love with a colleague. By the time the Olympic flame was lit, the couple was expecting a child and planning their wedding.
“I think that Olympic Games is a very good Tinder,” she joked.
Though she had left the organizing committee before the competitions began, Azzalin took a temporary job with Visa, one of the Games’ major sponsors, so she would not miss the atmosphere. She worked at a hotel hosting guests and staff, determined to remain part of the action.
Two decades later, the 53-year-old and her son were among the first to apply to volunteer for Milan Cortina. University exams ultimately prevented him from joining, but Azzalin forged ahead on her own.
Now based at the Olympic Village in Milan, where her family has lived for nearly 12 years, she has taken on a range of tasks, from assembling chairs to helping athletes manage recycling and waste in the cafeteria. The Finnish delegation even presented her with a commemorative pin in appreciation of her efforts.
“It’s funny because maybe you saw them the night before on TV,” she said of the athletes she encounters casually in the dining hall.
Her husband, meanwhile, has opted to stay home. “He said that the Olympic Games in Torino was already dangerous for him,” she laughed, “as he came back home with a wife and child.”
Together, stories like theirs illustrate how the Olympics rely not only on elite competitors but also on thousands of ordinary citizens willing to give their time and energy. For these volunteers, the Games are more than a sporting spectacle — they are a source of community, renewal and, in some cases, lifelong change.
As Milan Cortina unfolds, the spotlight will remain fixed on medal counts and record-breaking performances. Yet woven quietly through every venue is an army of volunteers whose dedication ensures that the Olympic spirit endures long after the final flame is extinguished.
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