ABSTRACT
The evolution of the Olympic Games, and consequently of the volunteering force, continued to develop and the final Official Report of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games dedicated a whole chapter to the volunteers. This chapter highlights some of the emotional aspects involved in volunteering at the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Athletes, the media, organizers and visitors are also involved in a very emotional environment. It is important that the organizers of Olympic Games support research that could enable and contribute towards a better development of volunteering, selection, training and management. The aim is to explore some of the emotional experiences of these volunteers before, during and after the Games, the methods presented were able to raise points that in the future could be verified by quantitative research. There are many publications dealing with planning, historical development and economic, social and environmental impacts, as well as the legacies left in the host nations by both the Winter and Summer Games.
