The Olympics, the biggest multi-sporting event on the planet sees athletes from across the globe travel once every 4 years to compete on the biggest stage of them all.
The organisation that goes into hosting such an event is frankly mind-blowing, with many potential hosts dropping out of the race over the years simply because they realised that their infrastructure, security, and stadia were just not ready for such an occasion.
Security is one of the most critical and, by the public at least, overlooked aspects of any Olympic games, or any other sporting event for that matter, as thousands upon thousands of people descend upon on city to see their heroes in the flesh.
The task of protecting all these people falls to professional security guards, the nation’s security companies, and an army of volunteers who work incredibly hard behind the scenes during the event, and in the weeks and months prior to make sure that everything goes as smoothly as it possibly can.
What do security guards do at the Olympics?
Security Guards at sporting events will be charged with a number of important tasks, each of which carefully designed to protect the athletes and spectators in attendance.
During the 2012 Olympics in London, there were an army of private security guards brought in to oversee security for the games, with a whopping 10,000 staff in attendance. As it happens there was actually quite a big scandal at the time as the security firm asked to provide the staff delivered nearly 4,000 less than initially promised.
Fortunately, event security was bolstered by the police, and the armed forces with a total cost of security estimated at around £550m.
Whilst the army and police may have bolstered security at this event due to the increased potential threat and the number of attendees, most sporting events are protected by security guards alone, possible with the support of a few local police and nothing more.
Just some of the things that these expert professionals will be asked to do during a sporting event to keep spectators protected from harm include:
- Monitoring CCTV for any signs of suspicious activity
- Overseeing the scanning of tickets and managing the queue outside of the venue.
- Protecting the car park
- Keeping rival supporters separated in the case of high-profile football matches
- Answering questions – You would be surprised how much customer service goes into being an event security officer!
- Liaising with local police, other security companies, and the venue staff
- Providing basic first aid in the event of an emergency
This is far from an exhaustive list and it is certainly safe to say that security work at events comes with one of the most varied job descriptions out there.
Arranging security at an Olympics or other major sporting event is no mean feet, but without the hard word and dedication of the security guards from a local security company in the field, the best laid plans would quickly fall to ruin.