London Olympics perfect training ground for Sochi 2014 volunteers

A group of Russian volunteers are shipping up to London to help with the hopefully smooth running of the fast approaching Games as well as gain experience for the Sochi Olympics two years down the line.

Russia has sent 104 chosen ones to the heart of the English capital to lend a helping hand to the XXX Summer Olympics organizers.  

The farewell at the Moscow airport was marked with an appearance by the Leopard, the Hare and the white Bear; the Talismans for the Sochi 2014 Games. “They are not just ordinary guys. They are real professionals,” Dmitry Chernyshenko, president of the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee, said of the volunteers. “They are our stars. They are the cream of the crop, who passed the extreme test during the previous Games.”

The lucky volunteers were hand picked from all over Russia. Among them is Tatiana Taramzhenina – a 70-year-old pensioner from Saint Petersburg.

This summer she took a break from her retirement routine and went to the other end of Europe for the opportunity of a life time.

“It feels like a fairytale,” she said. “I’m nervous, but it’s a moment we’ve been all been waiting for. I can’t believe that in a few hours we’ll be in London and attending the Olympics.”

25,000 volunteers will make up one third of the entire personnel at the Winter Games in Sochi, covering over 20 areas of specific duties ranging from directing the Olympians to their destination to giving first aid to those that need it.