By Tony Garrett BBC Disability Sport executive

Simmonds won two Paralympic golds at only 13 years of age

As the dust settles on a highly successful Games for ParalympicsGB, thoughts have immediately turned to London 2012.

After a tremendously successful Beijing Games in terms of competition, logistics, crowds and broadcasting, expectations to raise the standards for athletes, the International Paralympic Committee, broadcasters and the host city organisers in four years time will be even greater.

With just over 1400 days until the start of the Games, ParalympicsGB are already scouring the country for new talent as they seek to build on the success of Beijing.

But who are the emerging stars from Beijing that we should be looking out for ahead of London 2012?

The real face of the British team this time around was 13-year-old double gold-medal winning swimmer Ellie Simmonds. The public have taken to her in a big way and she has been all over various media outlets, including the BBC News at Ten.

However, in swimming terms, she is not alone with a crop of youngsters coming through including Louise Watkin, Sam Hynd, Matt Whorwood and Jonathan Fox, among others.

Although not technically a youngster, Salford's Heather Frederiksen was another to make an impact in her first Games, winning gold, two silvers and a bronze.

The athletics squad didn't have their best Games overall but there were still some encouraging performances from the likes of Ben Rushgrove, Libby Clegg, Ian Jones, Nathan Stephens and John McFall.

Another real bonus was the surprise silver medal that Mickey Bushell delivered in the T53 100m.

Shelly Woods might have been competing in her first Games but she showed real maturity, especially in getting over the shock of having to re-run the T54 5000m.

She will have been delighted to have brought home a silver (1500m) and a bronze (5000m) and fourth place in the Marathon.

In winning the London Marathon over the last few years, David Weir had established himself in the public's awareness and after a troublesome start to the Games he really produced the goods when it mattered.

His double gold in the T54 800/1500m races should not be underestimated and for me it was one of the highlights of the Games.

As at the Olympics, British cyclists dominated their sport with a superb 17 gold medals and some outstanding performances.

However, with the Athens squad having an average age of almost 34, uncovering new talent for 2012 and beyond will be one of British Cycling's priorities over the next couple of years.

Ricky Balshaw is one of the rising stars of Paralympic dressage

In Hong Kong, the GB dressage riders topped the standings with another five gold medals.

Lee Pearson retained his status as world number one with two individual golds and a team victory but his young apprentice Ricky Balshaw (21) made a impression in his first Games getting silver behind him.

Another to shine was 20-year-old Sophie Christiansen, competing in her second Paralympics, who came away with two golds and a silver.

Two other newcomers with real personalities who won gold in Beijing were 20-year-old archer Danielle Brown and spiky-haired shooter Matt Skelhon, who only took up the sport 18 months ago.

Rowing was a new sport at the Paralympics and GB followed its Olympic successes with single scullers Helene Raynsford and Tom Aggar claiming victories.

In the team events, one of the best performances was by the boccia team with Zoe Robinson (18), David Smith (19) and Dan Bentley (24), guided by the experienced Nigel Murray, taking gold.

The tennis squad has a youthful look about it and the likes of Gordon Reid, Jordanne Whiley and David Phillipson will benefit from their Beijing experience as they build towards 2012.

Similarly, there are some good youngsters developing in both the men's and women's basketball teams - Joe Bestwick, Abdi Jama and Simon Brown, as well as Helen Freeman.

But not all the sports succeeded - the wheelchair rugby again narrowly missed out on a medal and some younger players will be hoping to impress between now and 2012, while both of the football teams will hope to build for the future.

In table tennis, although David Wetherill and Paul Karabardak look promising in the standing classes, the wheelchair classes are in desperate need of new talent.

So, plenty of reasons for optimism but still many questions to be answered and it could make for an interesting time between now and the opening ceremony on 29 August 2012.

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