FEAST OR FAMINE

  I'm volunteering at the Paris 2024 Paralympics in the venue, the Grand Palais - the Grand Palace. The Grand Palais hosted men’s and women’s taekwondo competitions on 29 August on the first day of the Paris 2024 Paralympics and the discipline will continue until Saturday 31 August. Taekwondo is a martial art in which competitors aim to strike their opponent with their foot.   Competitors wear a white  dobok  uniform with a tied belt and a padded vest called a  hogu  to protect their chest. They also wear a padded helmet. They do not wear shoes – only socks.    The aim is to kick the opponent on the padded vest with the foot. The kick is a light touch. Points are scored depending upon where the contact was made – electronic sensors count the number of contacts. One point is given for contact to the body or head; two points for a jumping touch to the body or head; and three points for jumping kick to the head. Excessive contact is not allowed and c...

  The Paris 2024 Paralympics opening ceremony will take place on 28 August, followed by 11 days of competition to 8 September.  A total of 4,400 Paralympic athletes will take part in 22 sports in 549 events in 18 competition venues across France.   Unlike the part-time, on-call, intermittent volunteer work that I had during the Olympics, I’ll be working full-time, frontline, and the weekends for the Paralympics at the Grand Palais venue – the Grand Palace.    The Grand Palais will host three disciplines, two inside: 1) Para Taekwondo and 2) Wheelchair Fencing, with one outside: 3) Para Triathlon, which begins and ends on the bridge outside the Grand Palais. I will have access to all three events.    There will be 1,317 volunteers of 86 nationalities – 703 of them will work inside the Grand Palais, 215 will work outside, and 399 (including me) will be inside and outside. On Monday 26 August the volunteers working at the Grand Palais had venue train...