Loughborough University Pro Chancellor Lord Sebastian Coe honoured with his appointment to the prestigious Order of the Companions of Honour for his major part in staging the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The double-Olympic gold medalist and now Chair of the British Olympic Association joins a prestigious list of inidividuals within the Order, one of the highest honours in the Commonwealth. The likes of Dame Judy Dench, Sir David Attenborough, Stephen Hawking and Sir Ian McKellen are all part of the order.
The investiture ceremony took place at Buckingham Palace today as part of the 2013 New Year Honours, and Lord Coe graciously accepted his honour from the Princess Royal. A hard-fought Olympic gold medal at the London Games earned Sir Ben Ainslie his knighthood, and Charlotte Dujardin and Katherine Grainger also received their honours.
Lord Coe CH KBE declared to the press after the ceremony: "It’s a lovely honour and I’m deeply flattered but it is really signal recognition for the extraordinary work of so many people… The thing that always makes me most proud is the community effort that went into this, whether the teams at Locog or the armed services during the Games themselves, all our volunteers, our business and commercial partners – everybody played a part."
