Olympics volunteer ready to take on Italian adventure

Thirty years ago, 8-year-old Lauren Forsch watched in awe as athletes competed in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.

Three decades later, what Forsch remembers most vividly from that experience is not the competitors’ superb athleticism. Instead, it’s the enthusiasm of her fellow spectators, who cheered on the athletes no matter which country the represented. And being surrounded by a swirl of cultures led her to make a life-changing decision.

“Lots of times, people were not cheering for a particular team but cheering for the excellence within the activities. I thought that was the most incredible experience in sportsmanship that I ever witnessed,” Forsch said.

“And seeing different cultures was not new to me, but hearing all the languages was so eye-opening. All these people had all just come together in this one place. I remember telling myself and maybe my family that ‘I want to be a global citizen.’ That was the phrase the stuck with me.”

Friday’s opening ceremony will mark the official beginning of the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, although some events have already started. The ceremony will happen simultaneously in multiple locations, including Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, with closing ceremonies in Verona. Forsch once again will be at the Olympics, this time not only as an occasional spectator but also as one of the 18,000 volunteers needed to make the event run smoothly.

And this time, she traveled not from South Dakota to Georgia but to Italy from her home in Spain, where she moved last fall.

A graduate of Roosevelt High School and the University of South Dakota with a degree in international studies, Forsch also studied at the University of Granada in Spain as an undergraduate. That time abroad was pivotal in her life, she said.

Forsch lived in Rapid City for a time before returning to Sioux Falls. She operated her own consulting firm until early 2025 when she joined Wellspent Consulting in Omaha and Sioux Falls as an operations officer.

Forsch will be able to work remotely from southern Spain because her employer, a consulting and facilitation firm, believes that not only clients should achieve their goals but the staff too. Living a well-spent life means pursuing professional and personal dreams and ambitions.

Too often, the people she grew up with identified themselves solely with their professions, Forsch said. In other areas, particularly southern Spain, work can be compartmentalized: Do the best you can, then put it away, and enjoy life.

“I like to put myself in a place where once I am done with my workday, I can explore and experience new things,” Forsch said.

Wellspent Consulting knew when it hired Forsch that she wanted to live in Spain. She has completed the residency process there, and her official residency card is awaiting her return.

“I want to say September of 2024 was the deadline for applications,” Forsch said of volunteering for the Olympics. “I first decided to do the Olympics, then the opportunity came up to work with Wellspent. I told them that I’m interested in working abroad, and ‘oh, by the way, I also have a pending application with the Olympics.’ They were very supportive.”

More than 130,000 applications were received for the 18,000 available positions, said Malaurie Guillerm, international communications specialist with the Team26 Volunteers Programme of Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026.

“The level of interest and willingness to participate is remarkable,” she said. More than 46 percent of the applicants said they would be available for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Winter Paralympic Games will take place March 6-15 in Lombardy and sites across northeast Italy.

The Team26 volunteer program is international, bringing together people from 98 nationalities. After Italy, the largest groups come from France, Germany, the United States and China.

The greatest number of applications came from the 18-25 age group, with significant representation among the 45-55 and older-than-60 age ranges, Guillerm said. More than 2,000 volunteers are coming from abroad, and 51 percent of the participants are women.

Volunteers must spend 10 consecutive days at the Winter Olympics, although Forsch will be there the entire Olympic games. She arrived in Italy on Jan. 26 and began training the next day. Her first work assignment is Thursday. Her last scheduled work assignment is Feb. 18, although she can take on later assignments. The games close Feb. 22; she returns to Spain on Feb. 25.

That schedule shouldn’t deter anyone interested in future opportunities, she said. Anyone who’s interested shouldn’t hesitate to investigate the possibility.

In fact, Forsch first considered applying as a volunteer with the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. She had started saving up for the trip and coaxed her mother into applying, too, then used much of the money she would need as the seed capital to start her own business in 2013.

“Since then, it has always been in the back of my mind that it was something I wanted to do,” Forsch said. “It just felt like this was the right one, the right Olympics, and it was time to put my name in the hat.”

Some people grow up idolizing musicians and actors, but for Forsch, since she was 8, it has been Olympians such as gymnast Kerri Strug, alpine ski racer Picabo Street and speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno.

Forsch also grew up around sports. Her brother, Jason Forsch, played hockey almost from the minute he could walk, while her father, Tim Forsch, served as a hockey referee. Forsch herself started in figure skating and in high school participated in competitive dance. Family activities included backyard hockey, skiing and snowboarding.

In 2022, Forsch and a group of her friends who played beach volleyball decided to take an introduction to curling class.

“We had so much fun, and the entire time when we left the rink, we’d be saying the Olympic team was going to be calling us,” she said. “Mom and I went to the Olympic curling trials (at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in November), and the last day, I took a picture of me in my Team USA jacket, saying ‘I’m going to the Olympics.’ Funny how those jokes become reality.”

Forsch’s parents, Tim and Catherine, and her brother and his family, who live in Viborg, will travel to Italy this week and join her at the opening ceremony on Friday. They also have tickets to ice hockey, snowboarding and freestyle skiing.

Forsch’s focus, of course, will be her volunteer service. Forsch trained as a volunteer in technology and press operations.

“What I’ve been told is that my Midwestern, very clean accent is a bonus in this role,” Forsch said. “English is a common language, and I’ll be helping people who speak English with an accent help others speaking English with an accent. I’ll make sure media centers are set up and ready for broadcast and be aware of timeliness and press conferences and areas where athletes meet with the journalists.”

Fittingly, the organizers assigned Forsch to the Milano Rho Ice Hockey Stadium.

As with any new experience, Forsch plans to lead with curiosity. A lifelong spectator of the Olympics, she now will gain a behind-the-scenes understanding and take advantage of the opportunity to meet new people and develop friendships.

Forsch’s inner 8-year-old, the girl who was dazzled in Atlanta 30 years ago and left determined to become a global citizen, has been “on cloud nine” since her acceptance email showed up in her inbox. Having her entire family there will move the experience from a 10 to an 11.

Once again, she’ll be surrounded by sportsmanship and a global experience.

“To me, this is what the games represent, not just sportsmanship, but bringing people together across cultures is and has always been one of the most appealing aspects,” Forsch said. “To have people from all backgrounds, just people with all different opinions, coming together is worth celebrating, it feels like, especially now.”