Table tennis volunteer Debbie Oram won’t win a gold medal at the Paris Olympics – but she will be celebrating a golden achievement as she clocks up her 50th major event as a volunteer.

The 37-year-old data protection manager (pictured above) will be the Sport & Admin team leader for table tennis, heading a team responsible for sharing essential information about the competition to whoever needs it, as well as managing venue-specific issues such as lost property.

“We’ll be putting out schedules, order of play, draws . . . making sure the officials and athletes have them,” she said. “And we’ll be distributing results. That’s all on paper, as well as updating websites.

“That information will need to be in the athletes’ lounge and the operational office so they know when to go to the call room or the field of play.

“We’re a military operation making sure everyone has the information every day for the table tennis to work.”

Since first getting the volunteer bug at London 2012, she has clocked up an impressive list of sports and events. She will switch to athletics for the Paralympics this summer, but it is table tennis which has provided her with some of her best memories.

This will be her third Olympics after London and Rio and she was put forward for the role by Table Tennis England Area Manager Chris Newton, who has been acting as a venue consultant to the local organisers.

Debbie said: “I originally got a role in the Olympic Village but Chris was in touch with the competition manager and put my name forward as having experience in table tennis, so I ended up in the information role.

“I applied to volunteer and it’s a little bit of an automated process and they don’t necessarily look at your experience and strengths.

“I’m sure it would have been great in the village, but I’ve done so much table tennis working with athletes and officials that I think that’s where I’m more useful – and you want to do something that’s useful. And I’m happier in a sport I know.”

Debbie started her volunteering journey in Spectator Services at London 2012, wielding a foam finger and helping people with directions at Excel during the Olympics and in the Olympic Park for the Paralympics.

Her first experience of table tennis was at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, where she helped out on field of play and with racket testing and first worked with Chris. She has also volunteered in the sport at the Gold Coast 2018 and Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, as well as the Mark Bates Ltd National Championships.

“It was a fluke, really, that I ended up in table tennis but it’s worked out nicely. It’s a great sport to be part of,” she said. “I’ve never played a specific sport – I did table tennis at school, but nothing major. From knowing Chris, I’ve ended up doing a few table tennis events.

“Paris will be my 50th event – I’ve done gymnastics, Diamond League athletics, the London Marathon, the Winter Olympics in Sochi, the European Games in Baku. Whenever I’ve got time to do it, I get involved in sports roles.

“I just love being a part of sports events and to be a small part in the cog is quite a privilege. I take holidays to go to sports events and volunteer, that’s how much I love it – though I think I’d fear losing the love of sport if I did it full-time.

“I still pinch myself that I get to be part of those events and I never take it for granted.

“People say ‘why do you do it?’ and I turn it around and say ‘why don’t you?’ You’ve got to experience it to understand why.

“I’d say to anyone who’s interested, just do it at least for one event. Just try it, I don’t think you’ll ever look back and will get the volunteering bug.

“It can be a bit of an escape. It’s almost like living in a bubble for a while. There’s so many jobs you can do, and you can do as many or as few shifts as you want.

“You can also travel with it. Some of the countries and places I’ve been to, I never would have thought I’d visit – Baku, Canada, Australia, the USA. I’ve been to so many places doing sport, and that’s quite cool.”