RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The International Olympic Committee calls its president and executives "volunteers."
They receive no salary but do collect substantial cash handouts: a $250,000-annual allowance for "volunteer" president, Thomas Bach, and $900 per diems for executives on IOC business.
However, when IOC spokesman Mark Adams said Thursday that "volunteers are the backbone of the games" he wasn't talking about his bosses in the Olympic movement.
There's another variety of volunteers who are the lifeblood of every Olympics — ones who aren't ensconced in the lavish hotels, wined and dined by the great and the good, and enjoying the best seats at any event in Rio.