Post-game volunteering practices of Russian Olympic and sports volunteers: COVID context

This paper is about the volunteering of Olympic volunteers who took part in organizing and hosting the 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and their participation in volunteer activities after the events. The Olympic Volunteer Program was the first comprehensive volunteer training, support and management program in Russia. Its participants have received training for Olympic volunteering and have experience of volunteering at major sporting events. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they have almost no opportunities to take part in Olympic and sports-related event volunteering. The author of the paper conducted a series of sociological surveys on the volunteering practices, including volunteer experience related to the pandemic. Special attention was paid to the application of knowledge and skills acquired by the volunteers during their participation in the Olympic Volunteer Program. The issue of preserving the integrity of the community of Olympic volunteers after the event was considered separately.