Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton has been knighted in the Queen’s New Year Honours list.
www.bbc.com reports that the Briton, 35, sealed a seventh drivers’ title at the Turkish Grand Prix in November – equalling Michael Schumacher’s championships record.
Outgoing BHA CEO Nick Rust honoured
Rugby league legend Rob Burrow is made an MBE for services to rugby and his awareness campaign since being diagnosed with motor neurone disease.
British Billie Jean King Cup captain Anne Keothavong also becomes an MBE.
The former British number one, 37, represented Great Britain in the event – previously known as the Fed Cup – before becoming captain in 2016.
Others made an MBE include former Tottenham and Chelsea striker Jimmy Greaves and ex-Wolves midfielder Ron Flowers, both World Cup winners with England in 1966.
Greaves, who later became a popular television personality, suffered a severe stroke in 2015 and his son Danny said of the MBE: “We are very, very proud of Dad. Always have been, always will be.
“At almost 81, to receive an honour from Her Majesty the Queen is just something very, very special.”
Following rugby union side Exeter Chiefs’ domestic and European titles last season, director of rugby Rob Baxter is made an OBE while captain Joe Simmonds becomes an MBE.
“I couldn’t quite work out if it was real or whether it was spam or someone having bit of a prank,” Baxter said of the moment he received the news.
“It turned up by email and not in an official letter. You download it, read it and check who it has been emailed from with a Google search.
“I was sat there with my wife, both of us in a slightly bemused state. My family are delighted.”
Former England captain Gillian Coultard has been appointed an MBE for services to football, along with former Swansea City and Wales forward Alan Curtis.
Chairman of the Racecourse Association Maggie Carver has been made a CBE, as has former jockey Bob Champion and chief executive and secretary of the R&A Peter Dawson.
Bob Champion, pictured above with Aldaniti, recovered from cancer to win the 1981 Grand National with this horse before founding a successful trust to research the disease, could not hide his delight after being made a CBE for his charitable work in the Queen’s New Year’s honours list.
The 72-year-old, whose heroic Aintree exploits featured in a film and helped him enter racing folklore, founded the Bob Champion Cancer Trust in 1983 and a sum in the region of £15 million has since been raised. It forms part of the largest male-dedicated research facility in Europe with sites at the Royal Marsden in Surrey and another in Norwich.
The BHA’s recently departed chief executive Nick Rust was made an OBE for services to horseracing and he said: “I’m extremely proud to have been nominated.
“The honour reflects the hard and excellent work this year of colleagues at the BHA and throughout British racing in keeping our industry of more than 20,000 people going and surviving largely intact, despite the impact of the pandemic.
“In accepting the award, I’m dedicating it to all racing industry colleagues, and also to the nation’s care, health and emergency workers – the heroes who have selflessly put others first in order to protect us all and to keep the country’s economy going.”
Nigel Payne, the former chairman of the Professional Jockeys Association, was another industry personality recognised (MBE) for his contribution to horseracing and charity.
Payne, who is chairman of the Peter O’Sullevan Charitable Trust, said: “Obviously I was astounded and feel very, very proud and humbled.
“I’ve been involved in racing since 1973 – the Grand National since 1976 and with Peter’s trust for nearly 20 years. I have been very lucky.”
Promoter Barry Hearn becomes an OBE for services to sport, having been involved in boxing, snooker and darts among other sports.
“It has been a great joy to be involved in such a wide range of sports for over 40 years,” said Hearn.
“To be recognised for that work is an honour.”
Former Rugby Football League chairman, ex-Football Association chief executive and former BBC head of sport Brian Barwick, now chairman of football’s National League, receives an OBE.
Meanwhile, Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby chair Kevin Aitchison is made an MBE, and footballer-turned-boxer Curtis Woodhouse is among those to receive the British Empire Medal.
