Andy Murray and Mo Farah are all set to receive knighthoods following their dream year in which both the Great Britain stars won Olympic gold medals at the Rio Games.
The two are also among 100 Rio Olympic athletes who found their names as part of the New Year's Honour List. Paralympic dressage rider Lee Pearson has also been conferred with knighthood while heptathlon Olympic medallist Jessica Ennis-Hill and rower Katherine Grainger have been made dames. A total of 1,197 people from different fields including sport, media, fashion and entertainment are part of the list, who will be honoured.
Murray, who won the BBC Personality of the Year for the third consecutive time in 2016 was among the obvious choices for knighthood. The 29-year-old also becomes one of the youngest and the first tennis player to receive the highest honour in the country. He was awarded for his contribution to tennis and charity as he is also the ambassador to Unicef and World Wide Fund for Nature.
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The world number one ruled the second half of 2016 with nine titles including wins at Wimbledon and second Olympic Gold at the Rio Games, in a year in which he also became a father. Murray also dethroned Novak Djokovic from the top of ATP rankings and held onto the spot by the defeating the Serb in the ATP World Tour Finals title match, thereby winning the crown for the first time.
Murray had earlier reportedly said he was too young for knighthood and sources close to the tennis player have said he might not want to be called "Sir Andy" on the court in the 2017 season as well.
"Dream come true" for Mo
Mo revealed that he never imagined he would be honoured with the knighthood when migrated from Somalia to reach London at the age of eight. At the Rio Games, the 33-year-old added two more to take his Olympic medal tally to four. He also became the second only athlete to retain the 5,000 and 10,000m Olympic titles.
"I'm so happy to be awarded this incredible honour from the country that has been my home since I moved here at the age of eight," Mo said, as quoted by the Sky Sports
"Looking back at the boy who arrived here from Somalia, not speaking any English, I could never have imagined where I would be today - it's a dream come true. I am so proud to have had the opportunity to race for my country and win gold medals for the British people, who have been my biggest supporters throughout my career."
