Neil Fachie says he and wife Lora are “humbled” and “incredibly lucky” to be made OBEs.
The para-cycling pair were recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours after both winning gold medals at last year’s Paralympic Games in Tokyo.
Aberdonian Neil was made an MBE in 2013 with Lora, who is from Liverpool, awarded an MBE in 2017.
The couple, who live in Manchester, are both visually impaired.
Neil has retinitis pigmentosa which can result in trouble seeing at night and decreasing peripheral vision, while Lora lost her sight at the age of five as a result of a hereditary condition.
Neil was keen to thank the people who have helped him during his career.
He said: “There’s so many people to thank. My family in the early days carted me all over Scotland to competitions and I was repaying them by losing and being grumpy.
“They did so much for me and then since I’ve been in elite sport there are huge teams of people that help us produce our performances.
“I compete in tandem and there are two people who stand on the podium but there’s a massive team of specialists: coaches, mechanics, performances analysts, physios, psychologists, the list goes on and on.
“All theseNeil people are part of the journey and we’re incredibly lucky and humbled.”
‘We had a great year’
Neil says he and Lora were also thrilled to be made OBEs at the same time.
He added: “We were delighted, initially it’s slightly awkward because I think we were both trying to check that the other person had received it as well.
“Of course it’s nice to get it yourself but it’s even better both getting them together.
“We had a great year last year and to have recognition and be able to celebrate that together is great.
“Hopefully we’ll have our investiture on the same day as well.
“In sport we don’t often take the time to reflect on what we’ve done, it always seems to be looking at what’s next.
“But occasions like this give you the opportunity to look back and to be honoured by your country for your performances is very special.
“When I started out I would never have dreamt of something like this happening.”
