Gold medal-winning curlers celebrated in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list

Team GB’s gold medal-winning Olympic curlers have been named in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list.

Skip Eve Muirhead, who guided the team to the top of the podium in Beijing earlier this year, has been awarded an OBE, with teammates Jennifer Dodds, Hailey Duff, Mili Smith and Victoria Wright each awarded an MBE. British Curling head coach David Murdoch, whose own competitive career saw him skip Team GB to claim silver in Sochi 2014, has also been recognised with an MBE for services to curling.

Eve said: “It has been a whirlwind year and this award has given me some time to reflect on the Olympics and the World Champs. To get this on the back of the MBE feels very special.

"I am incredibly pleased for all the girls to get MBEs and to be recognised for of all their hard work and achievements. I know many of them have so much more to offer in the sport and they have great futures ahead of them."

Georgie Harland, Chef de Mission for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, has been awarded an MBE for services to Olympic Sport. Georgie, a former modern pentathlete who won bronze for Team GB in the 2004 Athens Olympics, became the first female Chef de Mission for Great Britain and Northern Ireland at an Olympic Games when she was appointed in early 2020 to lead the planning, preparation, and execution of the team’s participation in Beijing.

Georgie said: “Beijing was an extraordinary Games in many ways. We set out to keep the athletes at the heart of everything we did, and what we achieved was only made possible by the tireless efforts of a brilliant support team.

"It is an incredible privilege to be recognised today alongside our curling team, as well as other friends and colleagues, and I wish them all a huge congratulations.”

Former Olympic swimmer Hannah Miley, who represented Team GB at the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Games, has been recognised with an MBE for services to swimming and to women in sport, while Tracy Whittaker-Smith, who coached Team GB’s Bryony Page to become the first British trampolinist to win an Olympic medal when she claimed silver in Rio 2016, has been awarded an MBE for services to trampolining. Gary Hall, performance director for British Taekwondo, has been awarded an MBE for services to taekwondo after leading Team GB’s Bradley Sinden, Lauren Williams and Bianca Walkden to Olympic medals in Tokyo.

Key figures in the wider Olympic sport network were also recognised, including broadcaster Clare Balding, who has presented on television and radio for seven Olympic Games, six Paralympic Games and six Winter Olympic Games; Elizabeth Hughes, Director of Special Projects at Sport England; and Andrew Ryan, Executive Director of the Association of Summer Olympic Sports Federations. Stella McCartney, who designed Team GB’s iconic kit for the London 2012 Olympics, has been awarded a CBE for services to fashion and sustainability.

Ben Hawes, three-time Olympic hockey player and former chair of the BOA Athletes’ Commission, has been recognised with an MBE for services to sport. Hawes, who represented Team GB at the Olympic Games in Athens, Beijing, and London, served as chair for six years before stepping down in 2021 after serving his final term.

Georgina Usher, CEO of British Fencing, has been awarded an MBE for services to fencing. Georgia was appointed as CEO in 2014 following a successful fencing career during which she won several Commonwealth medals - including gold in 2014 - and competed for Great Britain at ten world championships. Her achievements as CEO include driving a partnership between British Fencing and community organisation Maslaha to establish the successful ‘Muslim Girls Fence’ sport for development project.

British Olympic Association Vice Chair, Annamarie Phelps CBE, said: “We are incredibly proud to see so many of our athletes, staff and colleagues recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list, and wish them all the warmest congratulations.

“The recognition of Team GB’s curling team is a fitting testament to the hard work, dedication and commitment that underpins the journey to an Olympic medal. Their achievements in Beijing were inspiring for so many, and we were delighted to see the nation get behind them all.

“It is also brilliant to see our staff and colleagues recognised alongside our athletes: their tireless efforts are crucial in supporting and guiding teams to compete and succeed, and we thank them all for their vital contributions.”