Paralympian distances himself from knighthood row (From Sutton Guardian)

Wallington Paralympian David Weir distances himself from knighthood row

2:10pm Wednesday 2nd January 2013 in News By Mike Pyle

Wallington Paralympian David Weir has distanced himself from a row about whether he should have been knighted in the Queen's New Year Honours.

The Roundshaw man, who won four golds at the Paralympics last summer, was made a CBE by the Queen while Olympians Bradley Wiggins and Ben Ainslie were knighted for performances in cycling and sailing respectively.

In an interview with the Telegraph, Weir, 33, said he felt Paralympians had to do more than Olympians to get the highest honours. His views were echoed by former Sports minister Gerry Sutcliffe who said Weir should have been knighted.

But Weir took to Twitter to say his remarks had nothing to do with whether he should be knighted. Over the course of six tweets he said: "Have to put this out there as papers take things out of context. I'm extremely happy to have been given a CBE and have never agreed with 'celebs' being awarded them, they should go to soldiers etc but at the end of the day it is an amazing honour and not to be turned down.

"I simply was saying that because of people in previous honours lists [disabled cyclist Sarah Storey] should of been honoured a long time ago because of all her achievements in Paralympic sport, and it sometimes seems because she wasn't in the public eye she was overlooked.

"I certainly wasn't saying I deserved a knighthood or trying to take away from anyone that has been awarded one. I am proud to be British and have been honoured. To me this is for my children and as long as they are proud of their old man in a wheelchair thats all I need. Rant over."