How are Allianz employees playing a role in the Olympics

Let's start with the highest number, which applies to volunteers. From a total of over 30.000 volunteers across France, 200 are Allianz employees who will travel to Paris to support in one way or another onsite and experience the Olympic and Paralympic Games environment in its entirety.

Thierry Jouve, Retail Development Inspector who's been with Allianz for over 20 years, was a volunteer at London 2012 and shared what it felt like to be in London back then. ''Allianz as a partner has enabled several employees of the Group to live this unique experience, which always brings back magical memories,'' he says. ''Every time it has been a real pleasure as the event organization is always top and especially you could share this unique experience with other employees who come from different backgrounds.'' As volunteers, Allianzers support the organizers in a variety of roles, from welcoming spectators and guiding them to the right venue to distributing useful equipment and assisting the athletes or medical staff on the ground.

Another key role that Allianz employees will represent again in these Games is that of the torch bearer. 10,000 torch bearers have been selected for the Olympic Games and 1,000 for the Paralympic Games. From those, three lucky Allianz colleagues will be a part of the Olympic Torch Relay in this year's Games, including Ricarda Bodenburg, Insurance clerk at Allianz Lebensversicherungs-AG in Hannover. Ricarda's dedication and passion for sports, from road cycling to running and swimming, makes her the ideal torchbearer for Paris 2024, alongside a few other colleagues (and board members) who share that same passion in different ways.

Finally, there's the spectators - the people who the Olympics are for and couldn't do without. Over the last months, Allianz set up several raffles to offer tickets to the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024 to lucky employees. One of them is Allianz employee Amelie Burt, who has followed the Olympics since she was a kid living in Germany and later participated at Tokyo 2020 as a training partner in Judo. Amelie has now been working at Allianz for four years and when hearing about the unique opportunity to internally purchase tickets for the Paris 2024 this year, she went for it. ''I am excited to attend the Games in person and to cheer the athletes. In Tokyo, we were missing the fans - I am looking forward to seeing full stadiums again."

Allianz will be present in all these different ways during the Games, in the spirit of collaboration and integration through sport. We're looking forward to experiencing the Games together as one company and Olympic & Paralympic Partner.

And let's not forget the workers, locals and others operating behind-the-scenes to make this prestigious event happen, from local business owners to cooks in the Olympic village. Follow Get Ready for Paris to discover more.