Expected to cost more than €550 million (£486 million/$590 million), the National Athletics Centre is set to be created for the World Athletics Championships which is due to be held in Budapest later this year.

The venue is being built on a brown-field site on the eastern bank of the Danube River as part of a regeneration of the area.

"Most of the work has been done but in the case of a large-scale construction project, the finishing period is always the most complicated and most exciting one," Fürjes told insidethegames.

"Let’s wait until that happens but we have all reasons that it will be delivered on time.

"It’s a renewal of a brown-field area which was completely out of use.

"It has an excellent location in the south of Budapest on the river and there will be a green park around the stadium for the people of Budapest.

"I think it will change the picture of the city for the good."

As the co-chair of the Budapest 2023 Organising Committee, Fürjes has even more reason to be focused on developments of the under-construction National Athletics Centre.

Once completed, the stadium is expected to be able to hold 35,000 spectators before the capacity is reduced to 15,000 after the World Athletics Championships, due to take place from August 19 until 27.

It is also set to become the home of Hungarian athletics.

"Preparations are going well," said Fürjes.

"We are working hand in hand with [World Athletics President] Seb Coe and [chief executive] Jon Ridgeon and their team.

"We are always in a mood that we are ready to listen and learn as this will be a first time for Budapest.

"My philosophy is that it is always better to be humble before and say everything is good after but so far so good.

"Of course, we are facing the period, which is the most exciting and most critical, but I think we have laid the foundation and we can build on the work that has been done in recent years."

The staging of a World Athletics Championships in a brand-new venue will be another massive moment for Budapest - a city that is continuing to build its reputation as a reliable host of major sporting events.

"I don’t want to exaggerate but we want to make history again," said Fürjes.

"The Olympics and World Athletics Championships have been out of Europe so this is the big return of an athletics festival.

"It’s also the first World Athletics Championships in Budapest and the first under the leadership of Sebastian Coe.

"The advantage of Budapest is the location - it’s in the middle of Europe and is easy to access so we really hope that fans and representative leaders from international sport will come and see the athletes performing and the city."

Budapest is well-versed in staging top sporting events and has emerged as the go-to city for International Federations looking for a host to deliver its flagship competition.

"The idea came a few years ago to establish Budapest as one of the global sports capitals and I think we are successful in that," said Balazs.

It’s hard to argue against that.

The COVID-19 pandemic underlined Budapest’s ability to adapt in difficult circumstances to ensure tournaments were held.

A series of Olympic qualifiers and other major events were staged in the Hungarian capital in the build-up to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics that were postponed by one year due to the global health crisis.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán claimed that the rescheduling of the Games would be a symbol of "our joint victory" over the pandemic and Budapest certainly enjoyed many days in the global spotlight.

Fencing, modern pentathlon and wrestling were among the sports that were held in the city before Tokyo 2020.

The International Swimming League also turned to Budapest to host the second season under strict COVID-19 protocols over five weeks at the end of 2020.

A total of 320 swimmers from 10 international teams competed, with participants housed in two official hotels on Margaret Island situated on the Danube River.

The accommodation formed part of a bio-secure bubble environment with swimmers tested every five days to ensure no COVID-19 outbreaks.

The first official UEFA match with spectators since competitions resumed in August 2020 following the pandemic was also staged in Budapest when it hosted the Super Cup final between Bayern Munich and Sevilla in front 30 per cent capacity at the 67,200-seater Puskás Aréna.

It’s ability to overcome adversity came to the fore again last year when it pulled off the hosting of the World Aquatics Championships in a very short turnaround.

Fukuoka was scheduled to hold the event only to push it back to 2023 due to rising COVID-19 cases in Japan.

Budapest was then awarded the 2022 edition in February, giving them just four months to deliver the World Aquatics Championships.

It proved to a big success receiving a rave review from World Aquatics President Husain Al-Musallam at the conclusion of the event.

"Hungary, your beautiful capital city, has been the perfect host for the 19th FINA World Championships," said Al-Musallam.

"The venues have been superb and the friendly welcome that we have received from the Hungarian people will be remembered for many years to come.

"So, although we are sad to say goodbye, we should be smiling today when we think of all the happy experiences that we have shared together during these Championships."

Al-Musallam is not the only sporting leader to lavish praise on Budapest, with International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach looking in comfortable surroundings when he returned to the capital during last year’s World Aquatics Championships.

"It’s a really good experience to be back in Hungary," said Bach during his three-day visit.

As well as watching the event and addressing the World Aquatics Extraordinary Congress, Bach met Orbán and Hungarian President Katalin Novák.

Bach was accompanied by Hungarian IOC members Pál Schmitt and Daniel Gyurta and National Olympic Committee of Hungary President Zsolt Gyulay.

"Hungary have not only had success in the Olympics with the athletes, but they have also proven to be excellent organisers," said Bach.

"In the last couple of years, they have organised countless World Championships, European Championships and World Cups, and they were all very successful.

"And then on top, there are the successful Hungarian athletes, who I think are great role models for the Hungarian people to practise sport themselves."

Bach’s appearance and comments were notable and suggests Budapest could have a strong case to secure the Olympics in the future.

Hungary is yet to host an Olympics despite Budapest bidding for the event in 1916, 1920, 1936, 1944, 1960 and 2024.

The country has bid on more occasions than any other nation never to have hosted the Games and is the highest placed team on the all-time medal table which has not welcomed the world for the biggest sporting spectacle.

Budapest’s last attempt for the Olympic hosting rights was launched in 2015 as it battled against Paris and Los Angeles for the 2024 edition.

Images of venues had been revealed of Budapest’s masterplan with an Olympic Park featuring the Olympic Stadium, the BMX Centre, the Whitewater Centre, the Olympic Arena and the Tennis Centre, in the largest of seven clusters.

Budapest’s efforts came to an end after youth campaign group Momentum Mozgalom collected enough signatures to hold a referendum on their candidature as part of the "NOlimpia" protest.

The result was significant with 266,151 people signing the petition which ultimately led to Budapest’s downfall as the Hungarian Government pulled the plug in 2017.

It was a huge blow to Budapest and the IOC which expressed its disappointment at the time of the decision, saying the city had presented an "excellent project".

The IOC added that Budapest had also demonstrated that "smaller cities and smaller countries can stage the Olympic Games in a feasible and sustainable way".

Since then, Budapest has continued to bid and stage major sporting events as the city became the European Capital of Sport in 2019.

The title came just a few months after Budapest had held the first-ever World Urban Games that featured emerging Olympic events including 3x3 basketball and BMX freestyle park.

The city has also been transformed over the past six years since the bid collapsed with the completion of several world-class venues.

Among those includes the Duna Arena, built in time for the 2017 World Aquatics Championships.

The capacity stood at 12,500 for the event before being reduced to 5,000.

Featuring two Olympic-size swimming pools, a diving pool and a short course training pool, the venue is a big asset for the city and can be used by both elite athletes and members of the public.

The Puskás Arena was then opened in November 2019 after a €533 million (£472 million/$574 million) construction project that started in 2017.

Named in honour of Hungarian football legend Ferenc Puskás, the 67,215-capacity stadium is the home of the country’s national football teams and hosted four matches during the delayed UEFA European Football Championship, including the last-16 tie between The Netherlands and the Czech Republic in 2021.

When attending the inauguration of the arena in 2019, UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin hailed the venue as "the jewel in Hungarian football’s crown for decades to come".

Hungarian Football Federation President and UEFA vice-president Sándor Csányi claimed the Stadium would "give great inspiration for the next generation of football players".

"I am very proud that Budapest and Hungary now has one of the most beautiful and modern football stadiums on the continent," added Csányi.

As forementioned, the National Athletics Centre will be the next sporting venue to open in Budapest.

Coe has already had the opportunity to grace the track during a tour of the stadium in June last year.

"Even with the ongoing construction, the stadium already looks impressive," said the World Athletics chief.

With sporting leaders handing out praise to Budapest whenever they visit the city, it bodes well for another shot at the Olympics.

Fürjes was head of the Bid Committee when Budapest threw its hat into the ring to stage the Games in 2024 and he believes they stand an even greater chance of securing the rights.

"I am passionate about the Olympic Games," said Fürjes.

"However, the Hungarian Olympic Committee [MOB] and the City of Budapest that will have to come up with the idea when they think the time is right to approach the Olympic Games again.

"Even compared to 2017 when we bid only to withdraw due to political turbulence, Budapest is a different city.

"We didn’t have the Duna Arena, we didn’t have the Pukas Arena and we didn’t have the track and field stadium and many others.

"We also have the hotel infrastructure in the city that has been upgraded by the private sector.

"There is still a lot to do on transportation but it was a viable city capable of hosting the Olympic Games in 2017 and we had an excellent evaluation from the IOC as all three series of the bid books were delivered that were requestioned.

"If it was capable then it is even more capable but first the Hungarian Olympic family and the city has to consider.

"When they say the time is right, I am sure the country will get behind it."

The MOB established a committee in January 2021 to look into the feasibility of staging the Olympics in Budapest in 2032.

But a little under a month later the Australian city of Brisbane was installed as the preferred bidder before being crowned as host at the IOC Session later that year.

The IOC now engages in targeted approaches with selected countries as opposed to traditional bidding races, with its Future Host Commission identifying and proposing a preferred candidate to the Executive Board.

The crowning of Brisbane as hosts showed how quickly things can move under the IOC’s new approach and the MOB will not want to miss out this time around if it is considering entering the race for 2036.

Egypt, Germany, Great Britain, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Qatar, South Korea and Turkey are among the countries that have expressed an interest in bidding to host the Games in 13 years’ time.

Some of those countries will present very strong cases but Budapest will hope its efforts over recent years to hold so many events will pay off.

Budapest is set for another bumper year of staging major tournaments with the Europa League final, World Athletics Championships and World Karate Championships as well as the World Judo Masters, Triathlon World Cup, Fencing World Cup, Artistic Gymnastics World Cup and Hungarian Formula 1 Grand Prix scheduled to take place.

Next year also looks set to be busy for Budapest which is due to stage several European Championships but Fürjes claimed it was important to continue to strive for more and look to improve.

"My philosophy is to never be 100 per cent satisfied and always find the mistakes," he said.

"There are things that you can do better and you have to be ready to learn from others and then the future looks good for Budapest."