Everyone needs someone to help them live a positive life and realise their true potential. This is why I set up my charity, Dame Kelly Holmes Trust, eight years ago on the eve of the Beijing Games. I embarked on this mission because I realised two things: not enough young people have a mentor figure in their life; and secondly because I knew the solution.

The number of sports featured in the Olympic Games, for various reasons, changes constantly. The 2016 Rio de Janeiro event had 28 games, as had the previous three Olympics since 2000. In 2012, the games in London had only 26 after baseball and softball were dropped by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

I am positive that combining the Olympics and Paralympics would create a truly inclusive event and would get more people to see the various sports, both in person and via the media, ensuring the we begin to see disabled people becoming global celebrities on a par with Usain Bolt and Mo Farrah.

Just because the Olympics are taking place far from home this year doesn't mean the athletes put in any less blood, sweat, and tears. As an avid Team GB supporter, I'm passionate about keeping that London 2012 enthusiasm alive.

If we're not careful, we could soon start pretending that we're a force to be reckoned with outside of the pool, running track and show jumping arena and begin flexing our military muscle with a view to forging a new Empire. We've never quite got over the loss of the old one.