Swimmer Miley hopes to inspire girls in sport as she is made MBE

She was one of 79 people honoured by the King at an investiture ceremony at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh on Wednesday.
Hannah Miley was made an MBE by the King (Owen Humphreys/PA)
PA Wire
Rebecca McCurdy5 July 2023

Former Olympic swimmer Hannah Miley said she hopes to encourage more girls into sport after receiving a royal accolade from the King.

The Scottish swimmer represented Team GB at three Olympic Games and claimed two gold medals for Scotland at the Commonwealth Games in 2010 and 2014.

Miley, a former pupil of Inverurie Academy in Aberdeenshire, was made an MBE during an investiture ceremony at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh on Wednesday for her contribution to swimming and women in sport.

The double Commonwealth champion was one of 50 elite athletes to front the SayPeriod campaign aimed at banishing the stigma of menstruation.

At the time, she encouraged women and girls to use the term as she promoted healthy conversations around periods and female health.

Speaking after the ceremony, Miley said: “I feel very honoured and excited, lots of emotions. It’s a real privilege and something I wasn’t expecting.

“It’s nice to know that there is someone advocating for menstrual literacy and keeping girls healthy. Health is more than just sport, fitness and eating well. Sharing that passion with those who want to listen has been hugely important to me.

“Hopefully we will see some younger girls coming through, achieving bigger and better things and for them to take their career wherever they want to take it to.

“If I can be a small part in helping with that, that’s a job well done.

“It’s nice to be recognised for that and hopefully inspire young girls to stick with the sport and also for them to learn more about their bodies and remain healthy.”

Miley was one of 79 Scots recognised by Charles during Wednesday’s ceremony.

Sir Aziz Sheikh, a professor of primary care at Edinburgh University, was knighted for his research work during the Covid-19 pandemic.

His work saw him inform the UK Government on the progression of the virus from the start of the outbreak, by monitoring the spread, assessing which groups were high risk, and whether vaccines were effective.

Research conducted by Sir Aziz discovered the Omicron variant carried less risk of hospitalisation.

Following the investiture, he spoke of the “complete privilege” and said the King was “very gracious and so very appreciative of the work that the team had done”.

Lieutenant General Sir Nicholas Borton was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath for his military service.

The senior Army officer commands the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps maintained by Nato.

He said the title was an “incredible honour after many years and also recognition for the support I’ve received from my family and the many people I’ve worked with in the Army and across the services”.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in