Knighthood for Lee Pearson

Agree with previous comments, and also his Olympics this time round didn't exactly live up to the (self generated) hype.

I'm not a Cherie Blair fan but I think she's entirely deserving of her award - she is one of the country's most successful human rights lawyers, does enormous amounts for charities and vulnerable members of society, and is incredibly successful in her field.
 
His attitude when he didn't get gold stank, blaming the judges and saying it was unfair. You didn't hear that from Carl Hester....
 
I do think he's got a point - if he had won multiple gold medals at multiple Olympics he would have been knighted by now. And he has done a lot to raise the profile of para-dressage.

Against which it is easier to win multiple paralympics medals, simply because the field of competitors is so much smaller - I would guess that most of Britain's most be-medalled sportspeople are paralympians rather than olympians.

I also don't think that his personality is relevant when it comes to recognising his sporting achievements - Alex Ferguson has a knighthood and he's not exactly known for bunny-hugging and peace-making.

But asking for a knighthood, and whinging when you don't get it? Unacceptable and very ungracious IMO.
 
@ armchair_rider

problem is m'dear that he has 3 opportunities to win gold at each games compared with Ben Ainslie who has only 1.

also paralympians are 3 times more likely to medal than olympians because there are fewer competitors spread over a lot of classes eg there were 100+ medals available in the 100m versus 6 in the olympics


basically 1 olympic medal = 3 or 4 paralympic medal
 
Leaving aside whether or not Lee deserves a knighthood, I don't understand all these comments along the lines of "I don't see why sports people should get knighthoods etc just for doing something they love".

Am I the only one who wandered round in a happy bubble for weeks because of the achievements of Bradley Wiggins, Mo Farrah, Nick Skelton etc? I got so involved in watching them, I was on the edge of my seat watching Mo Farrah and David Weir in their races, and I even shed a few tears watching some events! I have never felt excitement like when I was at Greenwich Park to watch Nick and the boys win the team gold, I was buzzing with joy for days afterwards!! I think as a nation we all got to share in these achievements, and we are honoured to have had that experience. Of course they deserve to be rewarded for what they did - there are many different ways you can contribute to other people's lives and the Olympians and Paralympians certainly contributed to our lives in the most positive way imaginable.
 
HashRouge said:
Leaving aside whether or not Lee deserves a knighthood, I don't understand all these comments along the lines of "I don't see why sports people should get knighthoods etc just for doing something they love".

Am I the only one who wandered round in a happy bubble for weeks because of the achievements of Bradley Wiggins, Mo Farrah, Nick Skelton etc? I got so involved in watching them, I was on the edge of my seat watching Mo Farrah and David Weir in their races, and I even shed a few tears watching some events! I have never felt excitement like when I was at Greenwich Park to watch Nick and the boys win the team gold, I was buzzing with joy for days afterwards!! I think as a nation we all got to share in these achievements, and we are honoured to have had that experience. Of course they deserve to be rewarded for what they did - there are many different ways you can contribute to other people's lives and the Olympians and Paralympians certainly contributed to our lives in the most positive way imaginable.
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No, not really. It's what they do for careers, and it's what they enjoy doing.

It's not some heroic act, nor do any of them live less than charmed lifestyles. Hats off, well done to them for reaching the top of their field, but it doesn't make any of them somehow holier than the rest of mankind.
And attitudes like LP's just turns the public against the sport and reinforces their opinions of us riders.
I hope he doesn't get to do the next Olympics. That'll teach him to be a bit more grateful. Obnoxious pompous little so and so.
 
Twiglet said:
Agree with previous comments, and also his Olympics this time round didn't exactly live up to the (self generated) hype.

I'm not a Cherie Blair fan but I think she's entirely deserving of her award - she is one of the country's most successful human rights lawyers, does enormous amounts for charities and vulnerable members of society, and is incredibly successful in her field.
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When I heard all the honours I did think what happened to Lee. But yes a bit arrogant of him to assume, however thats probably why he got where he is by being bloody minded(me being able bodied etc). So I do think he did deserve but should have been more gracious and kept his mouth shut!

Unlike ............Cherie she works for one of the biggest human rights law companies so they need human rights and make plenty of money out of their existence. She is quite self appointed and no I think there are many others that give their time freely that would deserve her honour instead.(I remember an article where other female lawyers said she had self appointed and never represented them, they were quite upset with her). We would never have heard of her had she not been the PMs wife.Tony and Cherie have both feathered their nests. I think you guess no big fan here. Now if she rolled her sleeves up and scrubbed a few floors on an NHS ward etc I may think differently.
 
bigmfic said:
@ armchair_rider

problem is m'dear that he has 3 opportunities to win gold at each games compared with Ben Ainslie who has only 1.

also paralympians are 3 times more likely to medal than olympians because there are fewer competitors spread over a lot of classes eg there were 100+ medals available in the 100m versus 6 in the olympics


basically 1 olympic medal = 3 or 4 paralympic medal
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As I said - the depth of competition is that much greater in the Olympics. It isn't so much that there are so many 100m races in the paras, its that the number of people eligible to compete in each of those races is much smaller than the number who could theoretically compete in the Olympic 100m.

Number of events per games is a tricky one, very hard to weigh the achievements of people like Ainslie and Redgrave who win their one event at 4 or 5 successive games against the likes of Chris Hoy and Bradley Wiggins who win multiple golds at 2 or 3 games.

Even so if you consider 1 olympic gold= 3/4 para golds then LP still has the equivalant of 3-4 Olympic golds across multiple games which would be probably be enough for a Knighthood
 
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He's not barred from the Olympics because he has a disability.
I think he answered his own gripe when he said there are around 250 para dressage riders (not sure wether he meant 250 who ride at a suitable level or 250 in total) but think how many more dressage riders there are who AREN'T eligible to be selected for the Paralympics. How many riders Hester and co beat out for their place on the squad. You say you can beat them, Lee Pearson, so let's see you put your money where your mouth is. Let's see you in the Olympic squad for Rio. Not the Paralympics, the Olympics.
 
armchair_rider


agreed enough for a knighthood ............. but only if givento PEARSON, not grabbed at or demanded by him with arrogant lack of humility.

massive.... peg .... takedown
 
Lee Pearson


Medal record
Para-Dressage
Competitor for *Great Britain
Summer Paralympics
Gold 2000 Sydney Dressage
Gold 2000 Sydney Freestyle dressage
Gold 2000 Sydney Team dressage
Gold 2004 Athens Dressage
Gold 2004 Athens Freestyle dressage
Gold 2004 Athens Team dressage
Gold 2008 Beijing Dressage
Gold 2008 Beijing Freestyle dressage
Gold 2008 Beijing Team dressage
Gold 2012 London Mixed Team Championship
Silver 2012 London Individual championship test grade Ib
Bronze 2012 London Freestyle Dressage


Tanni Grey Thompson
Medal record[hide]
Competitor for *Great Britain
Women's athletics
Paralympic Games
Gold 1992 Barcelona 100 m
Gold 1992 Barcelona 200 m
Gold 1992 Barcelona 400 m
Gold 1992 Barcelona 800 m
Gold 1996 Atlanta 800 m
Gold 2000 Sydney 100 m
Gold 2000 Sydney 200 m
Gold 2000 Sydney 400 m
Gold 2000 Sydney 800 m
Gold 2004 Athens 100 m
Gold 2004 Athens 400 m
Silver 1992 Barcelona 4 x 100 m
Silver 1996 Atlanta 100 m
Silver 1996 Atlanta 200 m
Silver 1996 Atlanta 400 m
Bronze 1988 Seoul 400 m
World Championships
Gold 1998 Birmingham 200m
Gold 2006 Assen 200m
Silver 1998 Birmingham 400m
Silver 1998 Birmingham 800m
Silver 2006 Assen 800m


Not sure how Tanni has been made a Baroness and Lee has been overlooked, it does seem rather unfair (purely on achievement basis). She has been very active Post retirement Which may have contributed to her awards.
Perhaps 'he who shouts loudest gets ignored'?
 
indie999 said:
When I heard all the honours I did think what happened to Lee. But yes a bit arrogant of him to assume, however thats probably why he got where he is by being bloody minded(me being able bodied etc). So I do think he did deserve but should have been more gracious and kept his mouth shut!

Unlike ............Cherie she works for one of the biggest human rights law companies so they need human rights and make plenty of money out of their existence. She is quite self appointed and no I think there are many others that give their time freely that would deserve her honour instead.(I remember an article where other female lawyers said she had self appointed and never represented them, they were quite upset with her). We would never have heard of her had she not been the PMs wife.Tony and Cherie have both feathered their nests. I think you guess no big fan here. Now if she rolled her sleeves up and scrubbed a few floors on an NHS ward etc I may think differently.
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My Knighthood recommendation would go to the director of a factory I used to work for, some passing guy, for reasons unknown, came and did a poo right in the middle of the floor of the ladies:) MD didn't have the heart to ask any of his employees to deal with it, and did indeed roll his sleeves up and clean it up himself (it was AWFUL) Hardly worthy of a knighthood of course but for other work he's done he probably does deserve some award or another.
Lee Pearson? Nah, learn some humility love...
 
@ jrp204

Performance achievements are meaningless, if a persons character demonstrates unworthiness and lack of humility. Both are pre-requisites.

Never has one individual made such an unashamed , arrogant, and deluded public play for an award

He just .....

doesn't ....

get it
 
bigmfic said:
@ jrp204

Performance achievements are meaningless, if a persons character demonstrates unworthiness and lack of humility. Both are pre-requisites.

Never has one individual made such an unashamed , arrogant, and deluded public play for an award

He just .....

doesn't ....

get it
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I hate the Honours system. It massively rewards people who mostly get very well paid for doing their job. I do my job to the best of my ability and am happy if someone simply says thank you. By all means reward people who go out of their way and help other people, eg. ordinary folk who raise huge amounts of money for charity, but for politicians, businessmen and sportsmen, well frankly its insulting. Yes, sportsmen X and Y have achieved a lot but they aren't God and if they dropped off the radar tomorrow, would the world stop spinning??? They mostly do very nicely thank you out of product endorsement and sponsorship, corporate events and so on.
 
Philip Taylor with 16 world championships, in reality is at the front of the Q ahead of Pearson for a knighthood, and under the same concepts that Pearson is claiming should have had it years ago. Also in front of Wiggo, ainslie , hoy and co.

Not sure I've heard him demanding one, as he he is not full of self-importance
 
If you want to see where moaning when you are not recognised gets you then look at Bruce Forsyth, he was moaning about not getting one decades ago and I believe that it is because of his moaning that it took so long for him to be knighted. (he probably only got knighted because they won't have many more years left to award anything to him)
I am also a believer that sports people should not get them for being good at sport, it is a career now, there are very few amature full time sports people out there.
I would also get rid of the Queens Policing Medal and Fire Service Medal as they seem to be given to those on high salaries not the people who are on the frontline.

Lee is arrogant and full of himself, he does not come across as a nice person and is not a good ambassador for any sport.
 
Twiglet said:
Agree with previous comments, and also his Olympics this time round didn't exactly live up to the (self generated) hype.

I'm not a Cherie Blair fan but I think she's entirely deserving of her award - she is one of the country's most successful human rights lawyers, does enormous amounts for charities and vulnerable members of society, and is incredibly successful in her field.
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Thank you - thought I was the only who was about to defend Cherie Blair and her charity work.


Think the Honours system went a bit wrong when Kelly Holmes was awarded a Damehood after winning two medals in one games. It's meant that since then they're expected for less achievement. It took Steve Redgrave 5 Olympics to get his Knighthood and Chris Hoy certainly didn't get his after one games. I actually don't think Wiggins should have got one this quickly either but that's my own opinion, compared to the likes of Ben Ainslie who has done a heck of lot for sailing over many years... Nice to Mary King finally get her MBE though :D

That said, the Honours system should be for those who really do do something for societies and communities...
 
Ellen Durow said:
To be honest, I think that the whole idea of any sports persons getting knighthoods and other honours for doing what they do basically for personal pleasure and personal agrandisment while people who do charitable and other unsung work for decades with no recognition get nothing, is more than a little grotesque.
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TOTALLY AGREE fed up hearing about how wonderful/brilliant these people are; yes they are great riders; yes they are dedicated. But there are people out there looking after dementia sufferers, working in hospices, living with disabilities that make them prisoners in their own homes - etc etc etc. No rich parents, no sponsors, no future. That is what I call courage and determination. Where are their honours?
 
In the past, there was more reason to give awards to sports people. There was little money in most sports, either in terms of funding, or corporate opportunities. I know people from a now major sport, who 20 odd years ago, had to pay their own way to their World Championships.

I'm not exactly saying that they should have had honours, but it was one way of rewarding so many years of effort, often at the expense of their being able to fully commit to their careers due to demands of training.

Seems more anachronistic in today's world of grants, lottery funding etc.

Rather pleased Wiggo got one through. The Tour de France seems such a monumental achievement, never mind the Olympics....
 
All the sportsmen & women are really lucky they get funding to train ,they don't have to have a job nowadays to earn the money like in the past. They have to work hard to get to the top, & good luck to them But i am getting a bit pi##ed off with our money keeping them they are just another lot on the bennifit roundabout.They are very lucky to be able to do something they are so passionate at. As for Lee it is a honor to receive a award not a right,His big mouth will stop him getting any more.
 
Inthemud said:
In the past, there was more reason to give awards to sports people. There was little money in most sports, either in terms of funding, or corporate opportunities. I know people from a now major sport, who 20 odd years ago, had to pay their own way to their World Championships.

I'm not exactly saying that they should have had honours, but it was one way of rewarding so many years of effort, often at the expense of their being able to fully commit to their careers due to demands of training.

Seems more anachronistic in today's world of grants, lottery funding etc.
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Back in the day when you had to hold amateur status to be in the Olympics and thus medal winners all had "proper" jobs too...
 
Sorry I've just browsed this so haven't read everyone's comments; but IMO the whole honours system stinks anyway, its more about nepotism than anything else, tho' it IS encouraging when someone that actually deserves it, gets a gong.

But think Lee Pearson needs to stop bitching on about it - he'll never get one for sure now, and just needs to get on with what he does, and does very well, without waiting for everyone to tell him what a wonderful guy he is.

Man up Lee FFS. You're getting boring.
 
Personally I think that sportspeople (other than football managers, racehorse trainers and other people who go on indefinitely) shouldn't get knighthoods til they retire - if they should get them at all, and I can quite see why so many of you are against it
 
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