A PARALYMPICS gold medallist has been recognised in the New Year Honours list.

Matthew Rotherham, from Bolton, was already a European champion in his own right when he won gold with the Team GB paracycling team at the Tokyo games.

Now Matthew will be honoured with an MBE to services in cycling.

The 27-year-old champion piloted Scotsman Neil Fachie to the gold medal in the men’s B 1,000m time trial, breaking the world record.

His mum, Rebecca Rotherham said at the time: “We are immensely proud of him, the way he kept going after that first setback and to break the world record. He is such an inspiring young man.”

Matt also won the national junior keirin title twice at the British National Track Championships, two silvers in the senior keirin, a silver and bronze in the individual sprint and four silvers in the team sprint competition.

Rotherham had been a popular figure on the Revolution and Six Day professional track series across Europe.

But in 2017, looking for ways to prolong his track cycling career, Rotherham linked up with the Great Britain Para-cycling programme and, as a pilot for James Ball, took that year’s Los Angeles UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships by storm.

He was partnered with Neil Fachie for the 2018 season, and the pair won the kilo and the sprint at the world championships in Rio and repeated the feat at the Commonwealth Games, for Fachie’s native Scotland.

They added the 2019 world sprint title to their collection in Apeldoorn, narrowly edging out GB rivals Ball and his new pilot Pete Mitchell.

Their team-mates gained revenge in the time trial. But Rotherham and Fachie earned a silver for their tally.

At the 2020 world championships, the thrilling rivalry within the GB squad continued in Milton, Canada. This time, it was the kilo time trial in which Rotherham and Fachie took gold, being left with the silver after losing to Ball and his new pilot, Lewis Stewart, in the sprint.