With just two weeks until the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics, 18,000 volunteers are preparing to welcome visitors to Italy. Among them is Chris Brust from Milwaukee, who reached out to TMJ4 to share his exciting Olympic volunteer opportunity.
Watch: Milwaukee man volunteers at second Olympics after Disney World encounter
This won't be Brust's first Olympic experience. He previously volunteered at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, giving him unique insight into what makes the Games special.
Brust will fly out of Milwaukee at the end of January to spend eight days volunteering at one of two hockey rinks in Milan. He'll help visitors and answer questions as they make their way into Rhino Arena.
"Just greeting people, being out there, and show them the most amazing time they can have," Brust said when asked what he's looking forward to most.
Brust's Olympic volunteer opportunity came from an unexpected encounter five years ago at Disney World. He struck up a conversation with a stranger wearing an Olympics jacket, who turned out to be famed Italian chef Carlo Zarri.
"I just said I like your jacket. I actually volunteered in Salt Lake City. And he said, I'm actually a delegate from the Milan Italy committee," Brust said.
"He said, wow, I like you so much. Milan is in the running for the Olympics. Would you be interested in working for us at the Olympics? I said yes!"
A friendship blossomed from that chance meeting, and an Olympic volunteer opportunity became reality.
Reflecting on his 2002 Salt Lake City experience, Brust remembers the magic of those Games.
"It was amazing. Outside, snowing all the time, seeing the skiing the luge and bob sledding," Brust said.
Brust has collected a lifetime of memories from 2002, including meeting now-retired TMJ4 News anchor Mike Jacobs, who was covering Wisconsin athletes in the games. His collection includes photos, pins and even autographs from members of the Jamaican bobsled team.
"I like the feeling of greeting people from anywhere in the world. No matter where they're from," Brust said.
A fun fact about Chris; he's an avid runner and showed Susan the medals he's collected over the years, from running marathons on all seven continents!
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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