Track record Paris Olympics of 1924 saved the Games. Can this be repeated?

Paris 1924 was the sixth and last Olympics presided over by Baron de Coubertin, the modern movement’s founder. He had good reason to be pleased with his work.

- David Goldblatt

The French government had backed the enterprise, providing a budget of 20m francs and a new stadium. The Olympic rituals – the parade of nations, the rings, the oath, gold, silver and bronze medals – had been established.

Above all, the Games remained the preserve of amateur athletic gentlemen – aristocrats, college kids, and military officers – performing what the baron eulogised as “a display of manly virtue”.