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19 / 08 / 2004
The former Olympic staff working at the forum relive the Barcelona Games at the balcony screen area
Thirty staff members of the Forum Barcelona 2004 that worked twelve years ago in the Barcelona Olympic Games gathered today at noon at the balcony screen area to relive their experience of the historic event. It was a retrospective regard that included the projection of images of the opening ceremony of Barcelona ’92 on the LED screen located at the balcony and which also featured memorabilia that are kept as treasures by its owners. The workers told each other their experience and the anecdotes of the Olympic games.
More information about 18th IAVE 2004 World Volunteer Conference
The were directly involved in making into a reality the words of the then president of the International Olympic Committee, Juan Antonio Samaranch, who stated that the Barcelona Olympic games had to be the best ones of its history. And it was also thanks to 30 people working from within the organization who are now directly involved in another historic event for the city and the nation: the Forum Barcelona 2004.
At noon, the former staff of the Barcelona Olympic Games gathered for a photo session with the media at the balcony giant LED screen that showed the spectacular images of the Barcelona games’ opening ceremony. As was stated by the people who lived the experience, the events are still in the memory of those who saw them and lived them, and many of them showed some of the souvenirs they have kept as invaluable personal treasures for twelve years.
There was a replica of the Olympic torch that was transported throughout the country; the Olympic uniforms and T-shirts; Cobi the Barcelona ’92 Olympic pet; pins and photos and an Olympic flag along with one of the arrows used by athlete Antonio Rebollo in his training to light up the Olympic fire. The former staff was eager to pose for some photos while they remembered the experience of Barcelona. They are people who worked under different responsibilities twelve years ago and who now meet again professionally on occasion of the Forum: executive officers through to volunteers, including the deputy general director, director of the opening ceremony, food director, ceremony production directors, the broadcasting center director, reporters from the press department, the heads of the sports facilities, team coordinators and those in charge of attending to the needs of everyone in the Olympic family.
Everyone agreed that the what they lived during the Olympics games in Barcelona, had been a once-in-a-lifetime experience in which, “in 15 days we used up 5 years of preparation, whereas here at the Forum, its just the opposite,” said one of those present, who also recalled the moment when, during the closing ceremony, all of the athletes crowded together on stage and the organizers “feared it would topple over”. Others said that the experience was so intense that they event kept souvenirs such as a feather from the male badminton finals that was held at the Mar Bella pavilion.
One of the most touching moments of the gathering was when one of the participants placed the arrow on one of the torches, which was lit right when the screen lit up with footage of the flames of the torch at the Olympic Stadium on July 25, 1992. The replica continued to burn at the Mirador Plaza as a tribute to those who are now working at the Forum as well as to those who were involved in the Olympics, which was a milestone in the history of Barcelona.
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