New Year Honours: MBE for para-athlete Daniel Pembroke

Daniel Pembroke described his honour as the "icing on the cake of an incredible year"

A para-athlete who broke a record at the Paralympic games has been appointed an MBE in the New Year Honours.

Daniel Pembroke, who has a degenerative sight condition and competed in non-disabled events before switching to para-sport, broke the Paralympic record to win F13 javelin gold at Tokyo 2020.

The 30-year-old, from Hereford, also secured a European record and gold medal at the European Championships.

The honour, he said, was the "icing on the cake of an incredible year".

"It was amazing. I saw 'from Her Majesty' written on her envelope and thought 'My goodness what is all this about'?" he said.

"I had to read it a couple of times... it was quite surreal."

As a junior athlete, Pembroke represented Great Britain in javelin at under-age level, including at the 2011 World Under-20 Championships in Canada.

Pembroke said he was now training to compete next year

However, an elbow injury ended his chances of qualifying for the Olympic Games in 2012 and a combination of that and his deteriorating eyesight saw him step away from the sport until 2019.

He also won gold in June's Para-athletics Europeans in Poland before throwing 69.52m in the F13 final on the ninth day of the Tokyo games in September.

His medal was Paralympics GB's first-ever gold in the men's event.

Pembroke, who also runs his own business, Dan Pembroke Massage Therapy, said: "I've always had quite a natural talent to throw the javelin, but I had such a big break out of athletics, nine years where I made the most of my usable vision travelling around world with my fiancée Martina.

"After the downfall of a big injury, I said goodbye to athletics and really didn't think I'd compete again.

"When I came back from my travels around the world and decided to get back, I didn't realise I would go on this path."

He said he was now in "intensive" training to take part in competitions next year.

Other honours recipients from Herefordshire and Worcestershire include:

• Bill Wiggin, of Upton Bishop, MP for North Herefordshire, is knighted for political and public service

• Anthea McIntyre, of Ross-on-Wye, a former MEP for the West Midlands, is appointed a CBE for political and public service

• Zulkifl Ahmed, 32, a special educational needs and disability group manager at Worcestershire County Council, is appointed an MBE for services to education and to young people

• Susan Jane Roberts, of Ross-on-Wye, volunteer and trustee of Ross-on-Wye Community Development Trust, is awarded a BEM for services to the community in the town, particularly during Covid-19

• Sally Jane Robertson, of Hereford, receives a BEM for services to the community in Burghill