After a remarkable Olympics and amid the mania of ParalympicsGB’s phenomenal medal haul at Paris 2024, an extraordinary comment went unreported this summer – but it caught my eye.

Liam McGarry is a para-powerlifter who is larger than life on the bench and off it. In 2017 he developed transverse myelitis – an inflammation of the spinal cord – and was paralysed from the waist down.

Shortly before competing, Liam wrote of the Paralympics: “I’ve never truly healed mentally or physically from parts of my life-changing injury seven years ago... I couldn’t grow into the man I thought I would be or wanted to be. But this is my way of settling scores. Pushing boundaries. Healing... The Paralympics is a second chance for so many people, but for me, it’s the sole thing that saved my life.”

It is a remarkable and moving admission, but nonetheless a reality shared by many of this country’s para-athletes. Elite para-sport opens the highest level of competition to people of immense talent who might otherwise be excluded.

Many athletes find para-sport later in life; it can provide a new purpose that may not have been apparent before. And there are myriad other benefits to a thriving elite sporting system that stretch far beyond its most accomplished.

When Liam and his teammates return from Paris, they will be welcomed by a hugely proud community whose lives have been touched by this global sporting spectacle thanks to the Paralympians on their street. These athletes will share their stories in schools and at kids’ clubs, and in doing so they will inspire a new generation of both stars and everyday sports fans – many of whom wouldn’t have otherwise realised the local boccia or badminton club nearby.

I’m pleased to see the new Labour government agrees. “Sport has the power to transform lives in every part of Britain,”  wrote Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Lisa Nandy recently. “The value of sport is measured not just in trophies, but in what it brings to our communities and our country.”

Perhaps it’s saying nothing new to extol the virtues of elite sport, but its future is at risk. The more vocally we defend it, the sooner it might be saved.

As with so much in Britain today, the sporting system is under intense economic pressure and athlete incomes have effectively frozen over recent years. All the while inflation has soared and private funding – through sponsors and donors – has dwindled. It means pursuing the elite athlete dream – a life-saving option for many – requires huge financial sacrifice.

A BBC study of 143 female athletes showed more than a third have considered giving up sport because of the cost of living crisis. Internal research from my own organisation, the British Elite Athletes Association, shows similar trends, with athletes relying on friends and family to supplement their funding. Alternatively they’re forced to work demanding jobs, leading to difficult compromises with employers or sacrificing their edge by expending energy away from training and competition.

The expectations and time demands on elite athletes are greater today than ever and, alongside disparity in medal payments, the personal expense of para-sport is often greater than its non-para counterpart.

Add to that that many athletes retire from competition only to start from scratch in a new career and this all points to a troubling future, one in which athletes simply cannot afford to compete without existing wealth. Our pool of role models and of inspirational stories, and our status as a world-leading sporting nation, will decline accordingly.

While government funds are in high demand across many sectors, few investments offer the transformative, nationwide impact that supporting athlete incomes can. Investing in elite athletes – particularly those with disabilities – drives not only individual success but also broad improvements in physical and mental health across the country.

With the October budget looming, the economic argument is clear: according to research by The Sport Consultancy, Olympic and Paralympic sport contributed £25.5 billion to the UK economy in 2021, making it of similar size to the water industry and greater than the agriculture and fishing sector. That will only last if its protagonists remain in-play. Without athletes, the whole structure collapses.

Losing our elite athletes doesn’t just mean slipping down the medal table. It results in fewer opportunities for children – with and without disabilities – to see role models who reflect the diversity of our world.

Furthermore, our athletes shouldn’t have to make impossible choices between pursuing their sporting dreams and securing their futures. No one should be left relying on personal finances or the generosity of loved ones just to compete under the Union Flag. We must ensure that sustainable support exists to nurture talent and break down barriers to participation.

Most importantly, we must ensure continued opportunities that, for many individuals like Liam McGarry, offer not just a career but the “sole thing that saves their life.”

That, above all else, is reason to act.

Dominic Mahony MBE is a double Olympian modern pentathlete and Chair of the British Elite Athletes Association.