It was June 2015 when the Hungarian Olympic Committee decided to bid for the Summer Games of 2024, and a month later the Hungarian Parliament had voted to support the idea.

Under the dynamic Presidency of lawyer-turned-politician Balázs Fürjes, the Budapest 2024 Organising Committee gained swift and surprising traction as it chimed in with the smaller-is-beautiful idea intrinsic to the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) Agenda 2020, the statement of intent from incoming IOC President Thomas Bach.

"A Games in Budapest sends the message that the Olympic Games are not simply for the mega-city but for mid-size cities too," said Fürjes. "Budapest can make Agenda 2020 real, a Budapest Games would give hope to new nations and new cities, nations and cities on the rise."

But there were other statements of intent swirling through Europe at this time, and on February 17 last year Fürjes announced that the collection of 266,151 signatures from Budapest residents opposed to hosting the 2024 Games in the capital - enough to trigger a referendum - meant the bid had "no chance" of success.

Five days later Hungary, which has taken part in the Games since Baron Pierre De Coubertin got the modern version underway in 1896, dropped its - immediate - ambitions of hosting what many still regard as the greatest sporting show on earth.

"The Government decided not to continue with the bid for the 2024 Games, and since then we are not pushing the idea of the Olympics," Fürjes told insidethegames.

"The next occasion when a new host will be decided for a summer Games will be 2025, when the choice will be made for the 2032 Olympics. By that time there will be a new Government, Mayor, and many new circumstances. It is too far away right now to be on our agenda."

Fürjes, who took up control of Budapest's sporting projects as part of the role he took over in May when he became Secretary of State for Development at the Prime Minister's Office, reflected: "I was really sad and disappointed when we had to make the decision not to continue with our bid for the 2024 Games.

"It felt like a death in the family and it has taken a little time to get back to normal.

"But we have learned invaluable lessons from our experiences and interactions during the bidding process.

"The real disappointment comes from the fact that the bid team put together a proposal for the IOC that was rational and feasible both for the IOC and for Budapest. We showed a real alternative of hosting the Games. And to be honest we have been emotionally touched by the Olympics and Paralympics as well since the first moments of the bidding process.

"We do not regard what happened as a failure - it has made Budapest even stronger in terms of being able to understand the international sports culture and to bid for future events.

"We started as underdogs, but we soon received many compliments and we know that we put on the table some new ideas and approaches.

"We listened a lot, and we learned a lot, and we believed the process strengthened us for the future.

"We believe that the next decade will mark a New Renaissance for the city. By 2030, our target is to make Budapest one of the top three European cities in terms of quality of life and attractiveness.

"Our location in the centre of Europe is a huge plus factor for us. In tennis terms, we are the Centre Court. We are very accessible, and very affordable.

"Our economy is booming right now according to the International Monetary Fund, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and other European Union (EU) markers, is at a higher level than the EU average.

"Budapest is smaller than many other European capitals, but it is large enough for its citizens and foreign guests. We are not too huge, and we have found already that this is much appreciated when we have held major international events.

"The compactness of the city has been ideal for International Federations and competing athletes.

"Central Europe is becoming more and more important to the European Union, and Budapest has the opportunity of becoming the capital of Central Europe.

"It is also a super-safe city in terms of security - something that is very important these days. Security is a hugely important factor for future major international sporting events."

It is worth re-capping on those sporting events that have already been lined up for the Hungarian capital once the grabbers and grapplers have departed the László Papp Sport Arena.

That same Arena hosted the World Judo Championships last year, when the World Swimming Championships were also successfully staged in the Alfred Hajos National Swimming Stadium, the newly built Budapest Duna Arena and an outdoor venue.

Next year there will be five major World Championships hosted along with World Cup and other events, several of which will be qualifying events for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

In 2020, the new Ferenc Puskas Stadium - due to be completed next year on the site of the old Puskas Stadium - will host group matches and a round-of-16 game at the UEFA European Championship finals.

In 2020, Budapest will also host the European Water Polo Championships and the European Aquatics Championships.

Other events are booked on behalf of the world and European aquatics federations in 2021.

It was recently announced that Hungary and Slovakia will host the European Handball Federation's (EHF) Men's European Championships in 2022, with the EHF reporting that the bid had created "a new standard" for European Handball bidding.

As with numerous other bids, the credit for that proficiency was attributed to the early work done on the 2024 Olympic bid.

In early December, the Hungarian capital hopes to gain confirmation at the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Council meeting in Monaco that it will host the 2023 World Championships, having already been nominated as Europe's preferred bidder by the international body.

In 2024, Budapest will hold the International Swimming Federation (FINA) Short Course World Championships. And there will be more to come…

"All these prime international events will underline the attractiveness of the city to visitors, and promote it in global terms," Fürjes said. "The creation of new major sporting venues will go hand-in-hand with the upgrading of the city's overall infrastructure, creating a long-term legacy. We truly believe that nothing else can work as well for building the community as cheering for your own or other athletes, welcoming the world and working together with enthusiastic volunteers.

"We have been working on a sport bidding strategy for Budapest between now and 2030 together with all relevant stakeholders - the Government, the City of Budapest, the National Olympic Committee, the National Federations. This will serve as a basis for our bids in the next decade.

"According to rankings of cities in terms of how many major sporting events they have been hosting and are going to host in the near future, Budapest is in the global top 10. Our target now is to be in the top five."

There has been EU censure recently for Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban over his record on democracy and civil rights. Asked if he had any concerns that this might impact on Budapest's sporting ambitions, Fürjes said: "No way. We have our debates with the EU, but this is normal in a healthy relationship. 

"We work hard with other EU nations to make the organisation a strong and successful community. A part of that process is respecting the sovereignty of member nations, and it is important that the EU respects this."

Somewhere in Budapest's progression of sporting competitions there will soon be, it is hoped, an addition of hugely significant emotional value.

"I can tell you now that Budapest would be very happy to become the first hosts of the World Urban Games," Fürjes revealed.

"This was a project that was close to the heart of the late President of the Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF), Patrick Baumann.

"I was shocked and saddened to hear the news of Patrick's death earlier this month, and I really feel now for his family and pray for them.

"I had a very good relationship with Patrick and he helped Budapest so many times in recent years.

"We spoke often about the future, and I had a huge respect for him as a person and a sporting leader.

"He was a fantastic personality - determined, but with a real sense of humour. His loss is a real loss for the entire world of sport. He was a man of honour.

"There is no timeline yet on the World Urban Games, but we started negotiations over it with GAISF at the SportAccord Convention in April and we want to be its first hosts."

The World Urban Games were originally due to take place in 2016 under the guidance of the then SportAccord President, Marius Vizer, Baumann's predecessor in an organisation that took on its new name of GAISF a year ago.

A few days before the World Wrestling Championships got underway in Budapest, Fürjes met with Nenad Lalovic, President of United World Wrestling. Last summer he met the IAAF President Sebastian Coe. Both interactions proved highly beneficial.

"It was absolutely amazing to gain the benefit of their expertise, which I believed could be hugely beneficial to us in future," Fürjes said.

"Now we are hosting the World Wrestling Championships, and we will learn later this year if we will also be able to welcome the IAAF World Championships in 2023.

"We are honoured to be contenders for this, and we really, really did love Seb's statement earlier this year that we were the preferred European bidders. But of course we want to be the actual hosts, and we will listen and work humbly towards that goal.

"The new IAAF bidding process was something of a revelation for us. Throughout, we were never made to feel like we were the pupils and they were the teachers. The IAAF members were very straightforward and honest, and treated us like equal partners.

"We believe we can make this a hugely successful event in a vibrant and appreciative atmosphere."

Although the immediate preoccupation with the Olympics has gone, it is impossible to dismiss the historic empathy between the nation and the Movement.

Hungary was among the founding fathers of the Modern Olympics, participating in the first Modern Games of 1896. They have been at every Summer Games since, other than in 1920, when they were not invited to compete at Antwerp in the first Olympics after the First World War, and in 1984 when the country was involved in the Soviet boycott of the Los Angeles Games.

Hungary is in the top 10 in the all-time Summer Olympics medal rankings, and is the only nation in the top ten that has yet to host the Games.

At the recently concluded Summer Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, Hungary finished as the fourth nation in the overall medals table.

"Sport is really in our DNA," Fürjes said. "The 2017 FINA World Championships was the biggest sporting event yet to be held in Hungary, and we know that FINA was really delighted with the vibrant atmosphere in which that event took place."

There was also a source of satisfaction that, despite being held in the post-Olympic year, there were a total of 11 world records set at those Championships, along with numerous Championship records that rewarded the ambition of building what was designed as the fastest pool in the world.

"Looking ahead now," Fürjes added, "our goal is to make Budapest a great city, a fantastic home for the citizens of Budapest that is a proud and shiny capital of the nation. It should be attractive for our foreign friends who are coming as tourists or to study or to work. Even when we were involved in the bid for the 2024 Games, we had a saying - 'the Olympics for the city, and not the city for the Olympics'.

"You shouldn't build infrastructure just because of the Olympic Games. That's wrong. And that was one of the ideas that Budapest brought to the 2024 bidding process. You should have a great sports infrastructure for the benefit of your city.

"The better city we build, the more chance we have of being able to host events such as the IAAF World Championships. 

"And the more prime international sport event Budapest hosts the better chance it has to host the Summer Olympics and Paralympics one day. Maybe in my or my grandkids' lifetime…

"For sure, Budapest will host the Summer Olympics and Paralympics one day. What we do know is that if and when Budapest enters into competition for another Olympic bid it will be a David among Goliaths."

Very likely. But come that day, David will arrive armed with a hi-tech slingshot and a superbly well-drilled technique for employing it…