A major recruitment drive is underway to find 45,000 Olympic volunteers for next year's Games in Paris.
And Paris 2024 boss, CEO Etienne Thobois is calling for Australians to join the ranks.
"We're not cocky about it. We're really happy to be a test event for Brisbane 2032 … that will be a great ramp up to gain experience and to understand what the Games are all about."
Organisers expect applications from international volunteers with very few prerequisites to get a backstage pass to the Games of the 33rd Olympiad.
Volunteers will be mobilised across 40 competition venues and other key sites including the Athletes' Village, the main press centre, training venues, railway stations and airports.
"Everybody can actually register, we only ask people to be 18 and over," Mr Thobois said.
"That's more or less the only rules and to be able to speak English or French or have some basics in French. But other than that everybody's welcome."
Perfect opportunity for Olympic die-hards
Laurie and Barbara Smith from Port Macquarie on the NSW mid-north coast have the ideal credentials, having attended every Games except Tokyo, since Mexico City in 1968.
"We had our honeymoon in Los Angeles [1984] we're both sport mad," Ms Smith laughed.
"We've made so many friends and had so many experiences that would never have come our way if we hadn't been involved in sport and volunteering."
The Smiths' passion for volunteering blossomed the last time Australia hosted an Olympic Games, in Sydney 2000.
Since then, Mr Smith has travelled to the First World Conference on Olympic and Sport Volunteering in New York City in 2001, before the couple took on roles at the Athens, Beijing, London and Rio Olympics.
"We chose the village because it's a very special place … some positions would be harder than others, some more interesting than others," he said.
But the hard work volunteering hasn't been without perks, including once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, like a one-on-one meeting with Prince William and Kate Middleton after one of their shifts in London, 2012.
"One of those serendipities that come up that you didn't plan," Mr Smith said.
Apply to 'live the Games from inside'
Online expressions of interest for Paris opened at the end of March and already organisers have been overwhelmed with applications.
"We will have disappointed people I can already say that, as we've got more than what we need right now," Mr Thobois said.
"But definitely the objective was also to allow everybody that wants to be part of the game to engage."
Applications close on May 3, with volunteers notified as early as September on whether they're successful.
A quirky cartoon campaign has also been launched to encourage applications.
"It's a fantastic opportunity to live the Games from the inside," Mr Thobois added.
What's it like to be an Olympic volunteer?
Mr Smith has collated his decades of volunteering experiences in a book, which lives in the official Olympic Museum in Lausanne and even has a foreword from former IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch who labelled Sydney "the best Olympic Games ever".
"As proud Australians, we would love to see Brisbane announced as the best Olympic Games ever, and that's just a passion for Olympism and a passion for volunteering," Mr Smith said.
"And we'd like to pass on that passion to our future volunteers."
Cost-benefit analysis
By the definition of volunteering, it's an unpaid endeavour, but Paris 2024 organisers are marketing the experience as a "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity.
The Smiths' have saved to pay their own way around the world to fulfil their Olympic volunteering roles, as will be the case for any successful applicants accepted for Paris.
Ms Smith said it was an expensive endeavour, but worth it.
"We're now friends with many people around the world, they've come and stayed at our place, we've gone overseas and stayed at their places and that's opened up other opportunities," she said.
"It's all friendships developed through that wonderful experience."
Australian candidates, along with those from countries outside Europe's visa-free Schengen zone, will also need to complete extra paperwork if they're picked.
Mr Smith said the pair haven't put their hand up for Paris, with Brisbane their "main focus" whether in a volunteer capacity or spectators.
They've encouraged Australians who can't make the trip to start volunteering at their local sporting or community clubs.
Even students aren't too young to gain experience before Australia hosts the Games again.
"They're at school now but they'd be volunteer age by 2032," Mr Smith said.
