Arise, "Sir" Andy??

So, a Brit has finally won Wimbledon after 77 years of disappointments. Andy Murray, loved by some, and hated by others, beat Novak Djokovic in straight sets on Sunday afternoon to win the Wimbledon trophy, and is the most recent British man to win it since Fred Perry in 1936. This was an amazing achievement. A British man winning a Grand Slam (that is any one from Wimbledon, the French Open, the Australian Open or the US Open) is big news itself. Before Andy Murray, the last British person to win a senior Grand Slam was Fred Perry in 1936 (winning the US Open as well as Wimbledon that year). Then Murray himself broke that record last autumn to win the US Open.

In reaction to his win yesterday, Murray had a full day of media commitments and visits, including a visit to Number 10 Downing Street, where he toasted his victory with none other than Prime Minister David Cameron, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, Leader of the Opposition Ed Miliband and Angus Robertson from the Scottish National Party (Alex Salmond, the leader of the SNP, was busy, probably pre-occupied with hating the English, or something of the like). David Cameron even claimed that Andy Murray should be knighted in celebration of his victory. Now, I'm not taking anything away from Andy Murray, but becoming a Sir for winning a tennis tournament? Seems a bit extravagant. Obviously, Cameron is convinced that trying to distract the public from the flat-lining economy and the poverty that the poorest in our society are currently in because his Government are removing essential benefits from those who need it most, and taxing spare bedrooms in council housing, all whilst claiming that "we're all in this together", will work in getting his party re-elected at the 2015 General Election (rant over!). And, I'm sure when Kate and Wills have their baby during this month at some point, David Cameron will be one of the first to jump on the national happiness bandwagon by encouraging everyone to ignore the economic gloom, and instead be out partying because a future king/queen has just been born.

This hijacking of someone else's achievements for your own self-interests isn't what annoys me most. Its the fact htat Andy Murray has only won Wimbledon. I say "only", as stated previously, a Brit winning a major tennis tournament hasn't happened since before the Second World War, but what I mean is that by all means, he deserves recognition (e.g. an OBE/MBE, or Sports Personality of the Year, or similar), but a knighthood? Isn't that a bit of an over-reaction? Surely if he is knighted, should Olympians from last summer's Olympics and Paralympians be offered the same reward? Greg Rutherford, for winning Gold at the long jump? Mo Farah, for winning double Gold at the 5,000 and 10,000 meters? Or, more widely, the England Cricket team of 2005, who won the Ashes after 20/30 years of not regaining them? (They got MBEs/OBEs, but not knighthoods!) Or Lewis Hamilton, the first British Formula 1 World Champion this millennium? The England Rugby team who won the Rugby World Cup in 2003? The list of British sporting achievements which merit recognition goes on.

There may even be a case for Chris Froome to be knighted, if he wins the Tour de France (which, as a side point, I really hope he does). After all, Bradley Wiggins won it last year and was knighted, so shouldn't Chris Froome should as well? Well, no. Here, I think, lies the point of knighthoods. Bradley Wiggins is the most decorated British Olympian of all time, and that was the real reason why he was knighted. Not taking anything away from his Tour de France win (because I can barely ride a bike for 20 miles, let alone 200 miles, in a day, and then doing it for three straight weeks as fast as you possibly could go... wow!), but he has been winning and being successful for the past 14 years (since his first medal in the 1998 Commonwealth Games). Sir Steve Redgrave is a similar case - he won medals in five consecutive Olympic Games from 1988 until 2000 including 5 Gold Medals. That just proves he is not a one-hit-wonder. Sir Chris Hoy is exactly the same (6 Golds and 1 Silver across 12 years). Not taking anything away from Andy Murray (I am not one of those people who loathe him), I support knighting him, if he deserves it. If, in ten years time, he has won everything there is to win on the tennis world stage, and has been world number 1, and maintained his current level of success well in to the latter stages of his career, then sure, those achievements should be recognised. However, if (and I really don't wish this is the case) he returns to his pattern of getting to semi-finals but losing to the big three of Rafa Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, then, in my opinion, he should not be knighted.

So, "Arise, Sir Andy"?? Hopefully in a decade's time, when he has achieved all that there is to achieve in the world of tennis, but the time is not right. Yet.