Olympians Jeanette Kwakye, Luol Deng, Mel Marshall, Emily Scarratt and David Faulkner head the list of those with Olympic connections on this year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours list.
Marshall, now a leading swimming coach, has supported Olympic champion Adam Peaty’s rise to stardom as the world’s leading breaststroke swimmer. Under Marshall’s tutelage, Peaty has broken multiple world records, both at 50 metres and 100 metres. A two-time Olympian, she is awarded the MBE for services to swimming and charity.
Faulkner, now head of performance for women’s professional football at The FA, is a 1988 Seoul gold medal winner in hockey and is awarded the MBE for services to sport, whilst Kwakye, who represented Team GB at the 2008 Olympic Games, is also awarded an MBE for services to sport and sport broadcasting.
London 2012 Team GB basketball star Deng, who played professionally in the NBA, is awarded a CBE for services to basketball.
Meanwhile, Emily Scarratt, who represented Britain in Rugby 7s at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, receives an MBE for services to rugby union.
Other notable individuals with connections to the Olympic movement in the UK include John Steele, Chair of the English Institute of Sport, who is awarded the CBE for services to sport. Lisa Wainwright, a former British Olympic Association board member, and current CEO of the Sport and Recreation Alliance, is awarded an MBE for services to sport.
Vice-Chair of the BOA, Annamarie Phelps, said: “As ever, there are so many deserving individuals on the list, from volunteers, to long-serving administrators, through to some of sport’s biggest household names. We are, of course, exceptionally proud of our Olympians and my congratulations go to those who have received honours – it is very well deserved in every instance.”