AMID THE euphoria of England winning a cricket World Cup, England’s Lionesses finishing third in their football World Cup, an epic Wimbledon finals weekend and Shane Lowry winning The Open on home territory you’d be forgiven for not thinking in terms of Tokyo 2020, and an Olympic Games that is only a year away.

But then cast your mind back to London 2012 and Rio 2016 and think about some of those inspirational, evocative performances. Mo Farah doing the "double, double" in Rio. The GB hockey team taking a dramatic penalty shoot-out win to take gold or Nicola Adams making history as the first female boxer to retain her Olympic title in Rio. Jess Ennis-Hill leading the charge on "Super Saturday" in London. They are memories that can’t help but transport you back to happier times for our nation.

There is no doubt that sport has a unifying ability in a way that other cultural events can and it is equally true that Team GB is one of the few sports teams that can create that feeling for an entire nation.

You only need to look into the 378 athletes that are predicted to be wearing the red, white and blue of Team GB to see why it remains the UK’s most loved sports team. A uniquely diverse mix of sports and athletes, there is a reference point for everyone – at least one athlete whose story should resonate with someone, somewhere across the UK.

Now, with only 365 days left until the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, Team GB is spreading that Olympic fever across the country as the countdown starts in earnest to the next Games.

In a week that Team GB confirmed that it is on the cusp of securing more women than men in the British Olympic team for the first time ever, there is much to be excited about with preparations for Tokyo 2020 well on track.

Three years ago at Rio 2016 Team GB won a record breaking 67 medals, becoming the very team in the history of the Olympics to win more medals at the Games that immediately followed their host Games. Team GB also won gold medals across 15 sports – a greater spread of gold medals than any other nation, including the table-topping US team.

Quite simply Rio 2016 signalled one of the greatest results in British sporting history, as Team GB finished second in the medal table, even beating China.

Replicating that success would be some achievement, but the British Olympic Association, who manage Team GB, have put in place the most comprehensive ever preparatory plans and facilities of any Games away from these shores.

A fully equipped preparation camp in Yokohama, on the outskirts of Tokyo, will see almost all of the athletes make their final preparations in Japan, as they come to terms with the time difference, the wonderful culture of the host country and the potential heat and humidity that a Japanese summer might hold.

On the field of play, Tokyo 2020 will welcome five new sports to the Games, which we hope will help capture the imaginations of new younger generations – baseball/softball, karate, skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing – and after an incredible summer of sport, Team GB is hoping to continue the excitement through until 24 July 2020, which marks 17 days of scintillating sporting competition.

The last few weeks have been exciting for Team GB as it was confirmed a women’s football team will compete in Tokyo while both men’s and women’s rugby sevens teams also qualified for 2020. In Gwangju, South Korea some impressive performances from Britain’s divers, including Olympic medallists Jack Laugher and Tom Daley among others, ensured seven spots for Team GB too and with swimming taking centre stage this week, more quota places are likely to be secured. At the beginning of the week Team GB had already achieved 86 athlete places at Tokyo across archery, diving, equestrian, football, modern pentathlon, rugby sevens, sailing, shooting and swimming.

At the same time Team GB has launched its public campaign to bring the nation together in excitement, unity and pride ahead of Tokyo 2020 and this will run through the next year with further activations as teams get announced and the Games draw ever closer.

Whatever your sport, whoever you follow, even if sport isn’t ordinarily your thing, Tokyo 2020 has the ability to grip a nation and bring us all just a little bit closer together again in celebration of everyday people achieving extraordinary feats as athletes we can all be proud of.

Read every story in our hardcopy newspaper for free by downloading the app.