Amidst every spectacular moment, many people will have Keely Hodgkinson’s dominant 800m gold as their highlight of Paris 2024. It certainly represents a glorious achievement for her. For many sports the Olympic and Paralympic Games are the pinnacle of competition. For athletes like Keely, it’s a long, hard road to get there – and a career-defining moment.

Individual talent and drive are determining factors, but they are not the only thing that powered the athletes competing in Paris to the 2024 Games. All the evidence shows that it’s opportunity too: access to the programmes, support teams, and systems that nurtured and developed their early potential.

Driven by the brilliant work of UK Sport, using National Lottery funding to powerful effect, Great Britain has become a Games powerhouse – and we’re rightly proud of our record. We want to build on the success of Paris to be even more representative of our society, unleashing all of the sporting talent across our nation that might not be visible yet.

If you’re a young athlete with Olympic or Paralympic potential, you should have the opportunity to reach the top of your sport, regardless of your background, bank balance, or where you live.

But there are many systemic financial barriers to the top. Access to facilities and coaches; time and cost to get to training; affordability of equipment; and travel and accommodation costs associated with competition on both national and international stages

SportsAid research shows it typically costs around £6,600 a year for young athletes to pursue their potential, an impossible sum for many families. Recent reports have shown that the facilities and training time often afforded to those educated at private schools has a big impact too.

A third of our brilliant Team GB athletes at Paris 2024 are privately educated, against just 7 per cent of the population. Sport England’s Uniting the Movement strategy unapologetically focuses on reducing inequalities in sport – and that includes the talent system.

As the England men’s football team shows, athletes and teams can be both world-leading and representative of the nation – but for this to happen, we need talent development pathways that are more accessible and inclusive.

There is determination and ambition across the sporting system to deliver this, and Sport England is committing £120m between 2025 and 2029 to help drive the change.

Backing The Best, run by our partner SportsAid, has delivered £6.5m of National Lottery funding over the past four years to ensure that athletes most in need get the necessary financial support. We recently turbocharged Backing the Best with another £1.5m, because recent cost-of-living increases have made it much tougher for many to keep going.

We’re very proud that Team GB stars like Hodgkinson and Amber Anning are Backing the Best alumni – and it illustrates exactly why it’s needed. From the upcoming ParalympicsGB team, swimmer Ellie Challis and power lifter Mark Swan have also been supported by the programme.

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The incredible success of these gifted athletes demonstrates why building more inclusive talent pathways is an essential part of sport.

We’re also working with new partners, like Badu Sports in East London: grassroots organisations, deeply embedded in their local communities, to help them provide more opportunities for young people from all kinds if backgrounds to explore their sporting potential.

We are making sure that National Governing Body sports pathways are better connected to the school, club, and community programmes that precede and surround them – so that talent is spotted early, nurtured, and signposted into more formal pathways.

And we are strengthening athlete support programmes so young people with the most potential get the support they need on their journey.

Every potential Keely out there should have the chance to get to the Olympics or Paralympics. When sport pathways and programmes are truly accessible and inclusive, every talented athlete has this chance. In turn, we can unleash our nation’s sporting potential and showcase the best of Britain.

What happens next?

The next generation of Olympians and Paralympians are to benefit from a record £120m injection in what Sport England is calling its biggest-ever investment in talent.

The funding is designed to increase and enhance opportunities for talented young athletes in England to explore and develop their athletic potential – regardless of their background or financial circumstances.

As part of the strategy, Sport England will provide nearly £1.5m for SportsAid’s Backing The Best initiative which aims to help young athletes with the least resources receive additional support.

The talent funding is part of Sport England’s plan to tackle inequalities in sport across the country.

“The reality is that the sheer cost of developing athletic potential is a major barrier for young talent,” said Sport England chief executive Tim Hollingsworth.

“The likes of Keely and Amber show precisely why making inclusive talent pathways and removing financial barriers for athletes is so vital – and that’s what this funding is for.”

Sports Minister Steph Peacock added: “This £120m from Sport England will extend the talent pathway supporting future Olympic and Paralympic success stories from the grass roots up.

“Dedicated funding means our Team GB and Para GB athletes can better focus on their training and achieve the kinds of results we have seen in Paris.”

Team GB delivered 65 medals at Paris 2024, 14 of them gold. Paralympics GB are expected to win between 100 and 140 medals when the Games get under way next Wednesday.

Sport England currently invests up to £300m of taxpayer and National Lottery money each year in helping elite athletes reach the top as well as encouraging the wider population to get active.