Olympic rower among those named in New Year's Honours list (From Wimbledon Guardian)

Olympic rower Sophie Hosking among those named in New Year's Honours list

4:40pm Sunday 6th January 2013 in News By Omar Oakes

Wimbledon’s very own Olympic champion joined the great and the good by being named in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List.

Sophie Hosking, a gold medal winning rower in this year’s 2012 Olympic Games, will receive an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) for services to rowing.

A big fan and former player for AFC Wimbledon ladies, Hosking won the women’s double lightweight skulls with partner Kat Copeland.

A former Wimbledon Guardian paper girl at age 14, she showed support for SW19 by rowing to victory with ‘Wimbledon’ written across her nails in blue and yellow.

Hosking also started rowing at 14 at Kingston Grammar School and teamed up with current coach Paul Reedy in 2007 while at the London Rowing Club in Putney.

After her victory in the summer, she said: "I have lived in Wimbledon on and off all my life, seeing everyone get behind me was amazing - I’m a bit over awed by it all."

Her achievement was also commemorated by Royal Mail, who painted a post box gold in her honour outside Elys department store in Worple Road.

Tennis superstar Andy Murray, who won Olympic gold in the Men’s singles event at Wimbledon’s All England Club, will be given the higher-ranked OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) for services to the sport.

A lesser known All England Club member to get an MBE is Andrew Gairdner, the outgoing chief steward, who led the Association of Wimbledon Honorary Stewards - the people responsible for crowd management every year at the tennis championships.

Mr Gairdner has been a steward at Wimbledon since 1978 and is responsible for working with the police, Merton Council and Wimbledon Park Golf club to make sure the queue runs smoothly.

Another OBE recipient is Michael Hourahine, a 70-year-old security manager from Morden, for the services to the Government’s Cabinet Office in Whitehall.

Those receiving CBE's from the Wimbledon area include James Michael Thomas Cochrane, chairman of the British Red Cross Society for services to health , Barry Geoffery Cox, Chairman of Digital UK for services to the media and digital television, and Professor Judith Anne Freedman Professor of tax law at Oxford University for services to tax research.

Christopher Townsend from Raynes Park, commercial director of LOCOG, was awarded an OBE for services to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.