THE Queen’s New Year’s Honours Awards for 2017 has reflected a record-breaking year for Team GB with sports men and women playing a leading role in the listings.

Heading the field were Andy Murray and Mo Farah, who receive knighthoods for services to tennis and athletics respectively, while fellow Olympians – rowing ace Katherine Grainger and heptathlete Jessica Ennis-Hill – are to become dames, for services to sport.

In addition, the British Olympic Association’s Mark England and Paul Ford have been awarded an OBE and MBE respectively.

Having hosted the Olympic Games in London in 2012, where Team GB won 65 medals, the 366-strong athlete delegation defied history by coming home from Rio with an even greater tally of 67.

GB’s Paralympians were also on fire, winning 147 medals (up from 120 in London) and 64 of them gold, to come second in the Rio medal table behind China.

All GB’s gold medallists received honours in the 2017 list, including Olympic hockey player Alex Danson who, although no longer living in the area, is a former member of Alton Hockey Club and receives an MBE for services to sport.

Alex, 35, scored Team GB’s opening group game goal in Rio, and added to her tally with another in the second group match.

An inspiration to young players across the south, Danson rose to fame after helping to secure bronze for the British women’s hockey team in the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Having joined Alton Hockey Club at the age of 12, going on to train with the Men’s XI, it was obvious even that then she was going to be an outstanding player.

Alex, whose parents live in Odiham, went on to join the Klein Zwitserland team, then the Trojans, and she now plays for Reading.

In East Hampshire, there was more jubilation as double gold medallist Paralympic sprinter Georgina Hermitage was awarded the MBE for services to sport following her success in Rio.

An MBE goes to Richard Cheetham, from Alresford, for services to education and community sport while, bucking the sporting trend, Maureen Duke from Petersfield, receives the BEM for services to the craft of bookbinding.

AFTER winning gold at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games 27-year-old sprinter Georgina Hermitage has been named in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List.

Having arrived home in Binsted, near Alton, after taking double gold in Rio, one of the things Georgie most craved was a “proper cup of tea” and this week she is celebrating with another very special cup – taking the place of Champagne as her training schedule is strictly teetotal – after being awarded an MBE for services to sport.

And she is already wondering what she will wear at Buckingham Palace.

“I will have to get a dress and a hat, certainly no tracksuits or trainers,” she laughed, adding that she is still getting over the surprise.

“I’m blown away really. It is the icing on the cake after Rio and getting gold.”

The biggest problem, said Georgie, who has cerebral palsy, was “keeping it secret as I knew six to eight weeks ago but couldn’t tell anyone!”

She doesn’t know when she will receive her MBE but will be taking her four-year-old daughter Tilly, partner Ricky and her dad, Christopher Turner, to the Palace for the awards ceremony.

Being strong enough to compete in Rio had been her main worry in 2016 because of the cerebral palsy which affects the whole left side of her body, but not only did she compete she won two gold medals in the T37 100m and 400m races. She now has her sights set on the IPC World Athletics Championships in London in July.

Georgie only took up Paralympic sport in the wake of watching the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

She had given up athletics at a young age after a coach encouraged her to compete in disability sports, due to her cerebral palsy, but was inspired by Mo Farah’s Olympic success and now wants to have her own “London Moment” at the World Athletics Championships.

Georgie owes her success to dedicated training and courage which is helping her compete at the highest level despite her disability, and now has Tokyo 2020 in her sights.

“Tokyo 2020 was never in my thoughts originally,” she said. “When I first took it up it was Rio and then finish, but that is no way going to happen now.

“I have to do it step by step first with the IPC Grand Prix in Dubai in March and thenLondon and, body willing, I’ll then take it year on year and I have Tokyo 2020 in my sights as I’d love to be able to defend my titles, but it just depends whether I’m competitive enough.”

Nick Upshall, of Mint Condition in Binsted, has played an important part in Georgie’s sporting career for it was at his gym that she began her path to athletics glory.

He said: “Georgie came to us in 2013 just after the birth of her daughter and we started on a programme that had to be different from that of an able bodied athlete because of her cerebral palsy.

“We did exercises to help with balancing and building up muscles and body strength so she was able to take to the running track without injuring herself.

“Early in 2016 she was European Champion in the 100m, 200m and 300m and gave up her job at The Hogs Back Brewery, near Farnham, to be a full time athlete in training for the IPC World Athletics Championships.”

Mr Upshall added: “She gets a lot of support from her partner Ricky, and as her mother died when she was young she told me she wanted to set up a legacy for her daughter Tilly to remember her by competing in the Rio Paralympics. I am proud she did so well.”

SportsAid is the national charity that helps the next generation of British sporting superstars, helping them with financial support and recognition during the early stages of their careers.

Georgie was one of those athletes and received support from them, in partnership with the Royal Bank of Canada, to help her cover the costs of training and competition.

She said: “SportsAid’s support was essential for me in those first couple of years. Between being a parent and trying to juggle the bills, and just being able to afford to put petrol in the car, it would’ve been a struggle.

“They were crucial for me and hopefully the money I received to give me a boost can go to someone else and give them a boost too.”

With Dubai in March and then the London World Championships in July, when for the first time Olympic and Paralympic athletes will compete together, Georgie can be found training either at Mint Condition or at Alton Sports Centre, who have given her a lot of support.

“I wouldn’t have been able to start training so early after Tilly was born if it hadn’t been for Alton Sports Centre and the fact they had a crèche.”

She can also be found at the Guildford and Godalming Athletic Club as part of her training programme six days a week.