Two-time Paralympic champion Peter Norfolk has been made an OBE for services to disability sport in the Queen's Birthday Honours List.
Norfolk, from Alton, Hampshire, receives an honours upgrade, having already being made an MBE in the Queen's 2005 Birthday Honours List after becoming Great Britain's first ever Paralympic tennis medallist at the 2004 Athens Paralympics.
The year-end world No 1 ranked quad singles player for four of the last six seasons, Norfolk won his second successive Paralympic quad singles gold medal last September in Beijing as he enhanced his position as Britain's most successful ever wheelchair tennis player. As well as winning gold in the quad singles in Beijing, Norfolk also won bronze in the quad doubles to add to the quad doubles silver he won in Athens.
"It is always an honour and a privilege to be able to play wheelchair tennis for your country, especially in a Paralympic Games, let alone go on to win gold. To receive added recognition like this is wonderful," said Norfolk. "I owe a lot of thanks to those around me in Team Norfolk, but especially my wife Linda and our young baby son Joseph, who continues to inspire me."
Throughout a glittering career Norfolk has won a total of 37 quad singles titles, including 15 majors at either Super Series or Grand Slam level. He has also won 12 quad doubles titles on the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour. In 2006 he was Britain's first ever Singles Masters champion and has also won two Doubles Masters titles.
His earliest successes came when helping to steer Great Britain to back-to-back quad titles at the Invacare World Team Cup, the Davis and Fed Cups of wheelchair tennis, in 2001 and 2002. He bids to lead Great Britain to a third Invacare World Team Cup quad title when the event celebrates its 25th Anniversary from 27 July - 2nd August at the City of Nottingham Tennis Centre.
"This is a great honour for Peter and for British tennis and I am delighted for him," said Sue Mappin, Executive Director of The Tennis Foundation. "It is well deserved recognition for all the hard work that has gone in to his success and achievements and I hope Peter can continue his success right through to London 2012."
When not training or competing, Norfolk is Sales Manager for and a partner in EPC - Equipment for the Physically Challenged, the Farnborough-based mobility company he founded in 1989. Through his day-to-day contact with fellow wheelchair users he has encouraged many people to take up wheelchair sport, run wheelchair repair stations at numerous national and international tournaments around Britain and is a regular visitor to wheelchair tennis camps organised by the Tennis Foundation to offer advice and support to new players.