So far, Beijing accounts for about 258,000 of the applicants. Of these, 181,500 are college students and teachers. The rest are drawn from 30 provinces and municipalities on the mainland.

Age is not a barrier, nor is gender. The oldest applicant is 99 and over 100 applicants have a doctorate. Some 80 percent fall into the 17-26 age bracket, and most are female, the organizers told China Daily.

While the odds of admittance for Beijingers are low, provincial candidates have adds of 1:33, putting them somewhere between the status of long shot and "see you again never".

This boils down to basic math rather than bad manners. The recruitment drive for non-Beijing natives began in January and has already hit 100,000. Each of the 30 mainland provinces and municipalities can only provide 100 Games-time volunteers - hence the chronic overspill.

To make matters worse, the search will be extended to Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macao, overseas Chinese and foreigners later this month.

The right man for the job

While Li and his colleagues are being inundated with applications, gaps remain.

Among those poorly represented in the current talent pool are candidates with strong foreign language skills, especially French, German, Russian, Italian and Spanish.

Another headache for officials is finding the right candidate for the right job.

With expectations at an all-time high, volunteers have to meet stringent criteria. And for those who don't, there are training programs.

"Olympic volunteers should master certain special skills during the Games," said Sun Baoli, director of the volunteer training program. "Moreover, they should serve as cultural ambassadors."

Demands on them include: basic knowledge of the Olympics, Paralympics, sports events, the history and culture of China and Beijing; first aid skills; cross-cultural communication skills; and the ability to work well under pressure.

He who trains, wins

A set of six textbooks specializing in the above areas has been delivered to each college applicant starting this month. People can also download copies online via the official BOCOG website at www.beijing2008.cn.

The site will launch a portal to facilitate remote learning soon, enabling people to interact and review their progress through online tests.

The first stage of training will focus on basic knowledge and skills, said Sun. Special programs run by newspapers, radio and television stations will pick up the slack when the website falls short.

The second stage will focus on volunteers recruited to perform professional functions, such as receiving VIPS, providing foreign language services, dealing with accommodation, transportation, security, medical services and media operations.

After this, successful Games-time volunteers will be given on-the-job training.

The volunteer recruitment campaign will run through May 2008.

With 26 pre-Games sporting events organized in the meantime, the fortunate few will have plenty of chances to get it wrong before the big day.

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