Past and present members of the Olympic and Paralympic high-performance sport community have been recognised in the 2023 King's Birthday Honours list, marking the extraordinary contributions and service of people across the UK.
The list of achievements from across the UK, for services to sports, national and international governing bodies, and major events, through dedication to initiatives such as social impact, governance, medicine, and performance has been exemplary.
Among those in receipt of awards were; former UK Sport CEO, Liz Nicholl (2010-2019) who said on leaving UK Sport, the CEO role was “the best job in sport”. Several members of the England men’s winning Wheelchair Rugby League team were awarded honours alongside RLWC2021 CEO, Jon Dutton. Recently retired triathlete, Non Stanford was also on the list.
Huge congratulations to all those recognised from everyone at UK Sport.
List of recipients from Olympic and Paralympic sports, UK major events and high-performance partners:
Damehood
Elizabeth Mary Nicholl (president, World Netball), for services to sport
Liz played netball for Wales before transitioning into sports administration. Over the last 40 years, she has held several senior executive roles in sport, including CEO of England Netball.
While CEO of UK Sport (2010-19) she led work on sporting performance, major event investment and governance. Under her leadership, Team GB's Olympians in 2012 delivered the most successful performance by a British Olympic squad for 104 years, winning 65 medals (29 of them gold) across 16 sports.
Their Paralympic counterparts won 120 medals across 13 different sports. In 2016 Team GB finished second in both the Olympic and Paralympic medal tables, exceeding their 2012 medal counts.
She was elected President of World Netball at the World Netball Congress in 2019 and the same year was appointed to the FA Women’s Super League Board. In 2021 she was appointed to the Loughborough University London Advisory Board.
Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)
Sarah Alice Hunter (former England rugby union captain), for services to rugby union
Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)
Pippa Britton (lately vice-chair, UK Anti-Doping and vice-chair Sport Wales), for services to sport
David Philip Clarke, (chief executive, British Paralympic Association), for services to Paralympic sport
Jonathan Michael Dutton, (chief executive, Rugby League World Cup), for services to rugby league
Thomas Edward Halliwell (England wheelchair rugby league captain), for services to wheelchair rugby league
Alfie Thomas Hewett (wheelchair tennis player), for services to tennis
Christopher John Jenkins (lately chief executive, Commonwealth Games Wales), for services to the Commonwealth Games and sport in Wales
Gordon James Reid (wheelchair tennis player), for services to tennis
Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE)
Eniola Aluko (broadcaster and former footballer), for services to football and charity
Sebastien Joseph Bechara (wheelchair rugby player), for services to wheelchair rugby league
Thomas Dillon Coyd (coach, England wheelchair rugby league team), for services to wheelchair rugby league
Niall William Andrew Elliott (head of sports medicine - sportscotland Institute of Sport, and chief medical officer, British Olympic Association), for services to sports and exercise medicine
John Parry Griffiths (coach, British Canoeing), for services to canoeing and paddlesport
Ian Philip Howard (vice president, World Triathlon), for services to triathlon
Maria Teresa McLoughlin (chair, Women's Artistic Gymnastics technical committee, British Gymnastics), for services to gymnastics
David William Pond (lately chief executive, Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby), for services to wheelchair rugby
Colin Shields (former ice hockey player), for services to ice hockey
James Simpson (former rugby league player), for services to wheelchair rugby league
Non Rhiannydd Stanford (former triathlete), for services to triathlon in Wales
Susan Taylor (chair, British Amateur Rugby League Association and vice-president, Rugby Football League), for services to rugby league
British Empire Medal (BEM)
Rebecca Elizabeth Sarah Edwards (rower), for services to rowing
Lucy Jessica Shuker (Paralympic wheelchair tennis player), for services to sport