News Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo may share an intense rivalry in most things, but when it comes to staging the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the two cities will be united More than 25,000 people from São Paulo – Brazil’s biggest city and financial capital – have applied to be volunteers at the first edition of the Games to be staged in South America On Wednesday (3 June), the first of group of applicants stepped closer to their goal, as the Rio 2016 volunteer selection and training centre opened for business in São Paulo “The goal of the centre is to select the volunteers and prepare them to work in a focused and efficient manner,” said Flavia Fontes, Rio 2016’s head of volunteers “We want the candidates to learn new things, have a unique experience together and share with other people the experience of working at the biggest sporting event in the world ”Based on the Conceição campus of Estácio University, an official Games supporter, the centre can accommodate 360 applicants per day, operating from Wednesday to Sunday until 18 October It will be used to select and train volunteers who will work at the Itaquera Arena, the São Paulo stadium that will host Olympic football matches, as well those who will be based in Rio or the other football co-host cities Candidates learned about the Olympic movement during their training in São Paulo (Photo: Antônio Vidal/Estácio) Applicants will take part in interactive group sessions in themed environments, such as the ‘Hero’s Journey’, a tour that presents important moments in Olympic and Paralympic history The centre will also provide training courses targeted at the specific roles that selected candidates will fulfil Among the first batch of applicants was 65-year-old José Oswaldo Marcelino, who played for the Brazilian volleyball team in the 1960s and 1970s, winning three South American titles and representing his country at the Munich 1972 Games “After everything that I have seen in sport, now I hope to have the experience of volunteering at the Olympic Games in Rio,” said the former player, who is better known as Negrelli For Roseli de Paula, 59, the inspiration to apply came from her experience at the 2007 Pan-American Games in Rio, where she worked at the diving venue “I want to go back to Rio and be involved in top-level sports again,” she said More than 240,000 people applied to volunteer at the Rio 2016 Games and the majority will pass through training and selection centres There are already two in operation in Rio and one in the city of Vitória, with a fifth due to open in Belo Horizonte in the next few weeks There will also be volunteer ‘road show’ that takes the selection and training process around the country, while overseas candidates, or Brazilians unable to attend the courses, will be interviewed over the internet The first chance for volunteers to work on the Games will come during the test events, which begin this July Applications to be a Rio 2016 volunteer are closed, although it is possible to register on the waiting list It is also still possible to apply to be part of the cast at the ceremonies, while human resources specialists can volunteer to help in the selection process For more information, click here INFORMATIONThe Rio 2016 volunteer selection and training centre in São Paulo is at: Av Engenheiro Armando de Arruda Pereira, 673 (Universidade Estácio - Unidade Conceição) Opening hours are: 7 30am-9 30pm (Wednesday to Friday), 7 30am-4 30pm (Saturday) and 7 30am-12 30pm (Sunday)