IT’S DAME ON …

Teams of craftsmen have begun a 33-month race against the clock to restore Notre Dame Cathedral to its former glory in time for the 2024 Olympics, after it was gutted by fire two years ago.

Jean-Louis Georgelin, a former army chief appointed by President Emmanuel Macron to lead the $1bn-plus project, said he was confident that his team would meet the deadline of April 2024.

He brushed off critics who claim the deadline is unrealistic. “We are going to make it,” he said. “We have to make it. The honour of France depends on it.”