Humans of Olympics: The French superman watching 20 events and is volunteering, too
Sylvain Tartes, 30, is a desserts photographer and food reviewer in Paris.
He fell in love with the Olympics in 2012 when he attended the London Olympics as a teenager. At the Rio Olympics, he was so excited about every event that France featured in that he would o attend as many as three events per day. But the joy of watching France win all those medals was nothing compared to the elation he experienced when his home city of Paris was declared the host of Olympics 2024.
His excitement for the Olympics is infectious and he probably irritated all his friends about his plans for Paris 2024. But he has put his money where his mouth is and has purchased tickets for 20 events. In the morning he was at hockey watching France take on Spain and then watched archery in the evening, where he saw one Indian archer in action, he says. On another day, he was watching fencing in the afternoon at Grand Palais in the heart of Paris and after that made an hour-long journey by train close to the airport to watch boxing. In between, he also found an hour to grab a beer with a friend along the River Seine. How much has he spent?
“I have spent slightly more than Euro 3,000 on tickets alone. The most expensive one was for the closing ceremony. I got lucky with gymnastics as one of the brands hosted me for it,” says Tartes, adding, “I am also trying to collect all the special edition Olympic glasses in which they serve water and soft drinks at the venues. Each of those cost Euro 2 over and above what one pays for the drink.” All this is even before you add the cost of commute, socialising expenses and time spent away from work.
That’s not all, Tartes is also volunteering for the Paris 2024 summer games and that is a gig that comes with no compensation, just some appreciation, uniforms, shoes and a special edition Paris 2024 Swatch watch for volunteers.