It is supposed to be the greatest honour you could bestow on a city: the chance to showcase the splendour of your sites, and welcome the world to your home.

But hosting the Olympic Games is increasingly being seen as an unnecessary burden and, with a decision on the 2024 games made later this year, some are beginning to wonder whether there will even be a real contest.

Three cities are vying to host the sporting spectacle: Budapest, Paris and Los Angeles. Hamburg, Rome and Boston have already abandoned their bids.

And the 2024 shortlist could drop down to only two this week, if the Hungarian government listens to the 260,000 people who signed a petition against hosting the Olympics in their capital.

The ever-more muted enthusiasm is part of a trend. Ten cities submitted bids to host the 2008 games, which eventually went to Beijing. The next round of bids was smaller: in 2012, London had to see off eight rivals.

The following contest was smaller still: six cities challenged Rio for 2016. The most recent contest, for 2020, featured only three – Tokyo, Madrid and Istanbul.