By the time the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games get underway on July 26th, France could have a new government. There’s no doubt, a snap election is a challenging backdrop to the world’s biggest sporting event. Paris mayor and 15-minute city powerhouse, Anne Hidalgo, has described it as extremely troubling.

Readying a city to host the Games is a huge, off-the-charts endeavour. Even without the distraction of an election, it’s not all been smooth sailing in the run-up to Paris. Towards the end of last year, Hidalgo said that she thought the city’s transport “wouldn’t be ready in time”. Then, instead of free transport for Games’ ticket holders, fares across the city will double for non-residents. In December, 44 percent of polled citizens thought the Games were a bad thing.

…