Cyclist Chris Hoy has been awarded a knighthood
- 00:01:45
- ITN
Cyclist Chris Hoy has been awarded a knighthood
Britain's Olympic heroes lead the field in the New Year Honours List with triple gold medal-winning cyclist Chris Hoy receiving a knighthood. Hoy said it was an "amazing honour" but insisted he was just as pleased about his mother getting an MBE. The flying Scotsman headed a long line of British sporting heroes receiving awards in the New Year Honours List, including racing driver Lewis Hamilton, 14-year-old Paralympic swimmer Eleanor Simmonds and double gold winning swimmer Rebecca Adlington. Adlington, 19, captured the hearts of the British public after winning two golds in the 400m freestyle and 800m freestyle events - and now gets an OBE. She said: "It is fantastic to be recognised in the New Year Honours List. There are so many amazing names on the list, it's something I'll treasure for the rest of my life." Hamilton, who is given an MBE after becoming the youngest Formula One champion in 2008, said the awards were a tribute to "an outstanding year for British sport". The 23-year-old dramatically won the Formula One world championship in November, becoming the first Briton to take the title since Damon Hill in 1996. He said: "It is a massive honour and incredible privilege for me to receive an MBE from Her Majesty the Queen. "It is the most amazing culmination to what has been quite a year for me." This year's list is dominated by the men and women whose sporting triumphs in Beijing catapulted Team GB to fourth place in the Olympic medal table and second place in the Paralympics. Hoy's knighthood caps an extraordinary year for the 32-year-old cyclist. He said: "To become a knight from riding your bike, it's mad. But it is, genuinely, just an amazing honour." Born in Edinburgh, Hoy became the first British athlete for 100 years to clinch three gold medals at the same Olympic Games, winning the team sprint, Keirin and match sprint. Hoy, who now lives in Salford, Greater Manchester, was named BBC Sports Personality of the Year this month. The cyclist's mother, Carol, 61, a retired nurse, was awarded an MBE for her work on sleep-related illnesses at the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh. Hoy said: "I was as delighted with my mum getting her MBE as I was with my knighthood." His fellow Team GB cyclists are also recognised for their dominance at the 2008 Olympics, where seven out of the 10 track events were won by British riders. CBEs go to Bradley Wiggins, 28, who took home two golds from Beijing, and British Cycling performance director David Brailsford. There are MBEs for gold medal-winning cyclists Ed Clancy, 23, Geraint Thomas, 22, Jason Kenny, 20, Jamie Staff, 35, and Paul Manning, 34. Britain's three female Olympic champion cyclists Nicole Cooke, 25, Victoria Pendleton, 28, and Rebecca Romero, 28, also get MBEs. Athlete Christine Ohuruogu, 24, who came back from a one-year ban for missing drug tests to become the Olympic women's 400m champion in August, also gets an MBE. Accolades have also gone to comic fantasy novelist Terry Pratchett, who received a knighthood, Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant, who is made a CBE, and child protection campaigner Sara Payne - whose eight-year-old daughter Sarah was murdered in 2000 - who becomes an MBE.
ITN | December 31, 2008
