Britain's Olympic heroes win gongs in New Year's Honours

LONDON (AFP) - Britain's Olympic heroes added a fresh haul of gongs to their Beijing medals Wednesday in the New Year's Honours List, also notably featuring Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton.
Music stars including rock legend and Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant were also among the hundreds of Britons from celebrities to housewives to be honoured by Queen Elizabeth II.
Track cycling star Chris Hoy, who won three gold medals at the Beijing Games in August, received a knighthood.
"It's a huge honour, really unexpected and just an amazing way to end the year," the 32-year-old told the BBC. "A knighthood is a unique thing. You can't compare it to anything else - it's something that money can't buy," he added.
In an impressive family double, Hoy - or Sir Chris as he can now call himself - can celebrate the top honour with his mother Carol, who became a Member of Order of the British Empire (MBE).
"I was as delighted with my mum getting her MBE as I was with my knighthood," Hoy, who was crowned BBC Sports Personality of the Year in mid-December, told the Press Association news agency.
Britain's Olympic team won 47 medals in Beijing, led by the cyclists, in the best showing for Britain in a century. They came fourth in the overall medals table.
Those honoured afresh Wednesday included cyclists Victoria Pendleton, Nicole Cooke, Edward Clancy, Jason Kenny and Rebecca Romero; sailors Ben Ainslie, Philippa Wilson, Sarah Ayton and Sarah Webb; athlete Christine Ohuruogu and canoeist Tim Brabants.
Ohuruogu, the only British athlete to win gold in a track and field event at the Beijing Olympics, welcomed her MBE. "It is nice to be called the Olympic, world and Commonwealth champion and now to be made an MBE is extra special."
Paralympic swimnmer Eleanor Simmonds, the youngest person ever on the New Year's Honours List at 14, said: "This year has been a real whirlwind and really a fairy tale ...It's just so amazing."