Bale, Muirhead, Ferdinand: Sports stars celebrated in Queen's Birthday Honours

Olympic gold medalist Eve Muirhead and former footballer Rio Ferdinand are among the 48 sportspeople to be named in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list.

The two have been made OBEs, alongside cricketer Moeen Ali and Paralympic cycling married couple Lora and Neil Fachie.

Presenter Clare Balding and former sports minister Tracey Crouch have both been made CBEs, while footballers including James Milner and Gareth Bale become MBEs.

OBE-honoured Muirhead and her rink won Great Britain’s only gold medal at the 2022 Winter Olympics. Her teammates Vicky Wright, Jen Dodds, Hailey Duff and Mili Smith have all become MBEs, along with coach David Murdoch.

Husband and wife Neil and Lora Fachie both won Paralympic cycling gold in Tokyo last year. Lora and pilot Corinne Hall, who has also been made an OBE, retained their B 3,000m pursuit from Rio 2016, securing back-to-back gold medals.

Gaz Choudhry, a Paralympic bronze medal winner in wheelchair basketball, and Sammi Kinghorn, a Paralympic silver and bronze medalist in wheelchair racing, have both received MBEs.

Georgina Harland is named an MBE after becoming the first female chef de mission of the British Olympic Association for the Winter Olympics.

Moeen becomes an OBE as his career is celebrated following his decision to retire from Test cricket in September last year.

During his seven years in Test, the England international racked up a batting average of 28.29 and a bowling average of 36.66. Mooen is ranked third among English spin bowlers.

The 34-year-old was part of the 2015 Ashes winning side and helped England win the 2019 Cricket World Cup.

Alongside Mooen, chief executive of Glamorgan County Cricket Club Hugh Morris and chief medical officer of England and Wales Cricket