Great Britain was toe to toe with Russia, Australia, USA and the Ukraine in the medal table and our athletes were being celebrated like never before.

For all that looking back to those glorious days of London 2012 is fun to do (and trust me, from my privileged position, it is) it is far more pertinent to look forward.  Because of course London, however important and successful it was as an event, is now Paralympic history.  The focus has moved, via the snow and ice of Sochi 2014, to Rio and the 2016 Paralympic Games. 

Tomorrow marks exactly one year to go to the most important Games in the history of the Paralympic movement.  I say that with all seriousness.  The movement has been growing steadily and positively over many years. 

From the early days of Rome and Tokyo, through developmentally significant Games in Barcelona and Sydney to the spectacle of Beijing 2008, London is universally recognised as the most successful Games ever held.  Against whatever benchmark you choose - athletic performance and standard of competition, spectator and visitor numbers, TV and media coverage, sponsor engagement and national consciousness - London was a game changer. I do not meet a colleague across the world who does not believe it raised the bar.

London was also fundamental to the presentation of a wider vision - that the standard of the sport and the achievements of our athletes could in turn inspire more fundamental change in perceptions and attitudes towards disability in wider society. Its ability to showcase impairment in the context of endeavour and excellence was a hugely powerful means by which the focus was positively on what was possible rather than what was not. 

Whatever new level reached, as I have said many times before, London critically must not be seen as the pinnacle. Rather the start of a new and exciting stage in a journey where we are as a movement, and as a society, only in the foothills rather than at the summit. 

Hence the significance of Rio 2016.  It is a Games that needs to show the world that it was not only London that made 2012 special, but the sport and the athletes that it showcased and the impact it created as a result. It needs to prove that the Paralympics can truly be one of the foremost sporting events in the calendar and that the athletes striving to win are every bit as committed and dedicated to that cause as their compatriots in other competition. And it needs to do so while seeing continued progress in terms of spectator interest, commercial support and media coverage.

A lot to ask? Maybe, but they are necessary developments if we are to sustain the momentum from London. And the signs so far are promising.  

In Brazil, for all the well documented challenges, it is quite possible to see real progress in terms of the planning and development of the Paralympic Games.  Another major step in that direction will be taken next week with the ‘Chef de Mission’ Seminar - the key briefing event where all nations gather for a week of planning and preparation with the Organising Committee. The ambition is there too - with the organisers looking to sell 3.3 million tickets - half a million more than in London 2012.

Globally too, our colleagues are looking to move forward. From increased excellence on the field of play in many nations, to new TV deals done in significant markets like America, Australia and Canada (the ambition for Rio is for the cumulative global TV audience to break the four billion barrier for the first time), there are positive signs of how London has provided the platform for growth. 

It is absolutely true here in the UK.  Channel Four remain a hugely committed partner of the Paralympic movement, building on their multi-award winning coverage in 2012.  As well as significant support from UK Sport and the National Lottery for our athletes, the BPA itself has a proud family of ten commercial sponsors, ranging from mainstays of previous Games such as BT, BP, Sainsbury’s, Adidas and Deloitte, to newer sponsors like EDF Energy, Mondel­­­­­ēz International, ASOS, Nissan and Hogan Lovells.

We continue to see performances on the field of play that are stepping up to the challenge of increased competition elsewhere as other nations increase their investment in and focus on Paralympic sport.

To give just one example among many, I was proud recently to hang a gold medal around the neck of Sascha Kindred for the 200m Individual Medley at the IPC Swimming World Championships in Glasgow. To claim gold in 2015, Sascha had to cut a full eight seconds off his gold medal winning time from Beijing 2008 - a time that was a world record then. That is astonishing progress in seven years. 

The London 2012 Paralympics truly resonated with the British public and this positive sentiment has endured.   In research carried out at the end of last year for the BPA by YouGov, 75 per cent of the British Public agreed that the Paralympic Games was “inspirational” and two thirds maintained that two years on they still believed the Paralympics represented a positive view of disability. 

More than two thirds also agreed that the whole nation unites behind the Paralympic team and roughly the same again stated that - more than a year out - they were looking forward to following British athletes in Rio.   A seismic shift from pre-London days.

We need to step up still, however. The BPA will for 2016 launch a public campaign that will seek to excite and inspire the nation behind the team and seek to help raise the funds still needed to ensure our final preparations for the athletes are as good as they can be and that we remain a leading nation in Paralympic sport. The financial burden of world class expectation is one that we carry - and future Games now confirmed in South Korea, Japan and China will only add to that in the coming decade. 

But it is one we are confident we can meet if the Games themselves continue to dazzle and inspire in the way that London surely did.

That is why Rio matters.  For the people of Brazil it should be a heart-stopping and hugely motivating event that installs the same sense of national pride we felt that morning three years ago in London.  For the rest of us involved in this unique, incredible movement, it is the latest and most vital stop in a journey that none of us want to get off.   

Tim Hollingsworth is the chief executive of the British Paralympic Association