Budapest will provide the world’s top athletes a secure environment in the event of winning its bid, in which case it will become the first central European city to host the Summer Games, he said.

Attila Mizsér, Olympic champion modern pent-athlete and sports director of Budapest 2024 Nonprofit, said the Olympic venues would be located close to one another, with some linked by the Danube.

“The whole city would become a fantastic Olympic park,” he said. Gusztáv Bienerth, another senior official in charge of the bid, said that Hungary’s economy is “in good shape”.

Generating sufficient funds to organise the event in seven years’ time would not overly burden the state budget, he added.

The IOC is likely to select a low-risk venue for the 2024 Olympics, and Budapest meets this expectation, he said. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is scheduled to meet in Lima next year to select the host of the 2024 Games.

Republished with permission of Hungary Matters, MTI’s daily newsletter.