NORTHERN Ireland’s original Olympic Golden Girl turned national treasure, Lady Mary Peters, has received the Freedom of the City of London, in recognition of her outstanding sporting achievements and charitable work.
Olympic and Commonwealth Games Gold and Silver medal winning athlete and sport ambassador, Lady Mary has raised millions of pounds in support of developing young NI competitors across the sporting spectrum in the 50 years since the foundation of her Mary Peters Trust.
Among the privileges accorded… the right to drive sheep across London Bridge!
Lady Mary, who was nominated for the Freedom award by former Lord Mayors of London, Professor Michael Mainelli and Sir William Russell, attended her ceremony at the Guildhall in London today with friends, including the new President of Athletics NI, Wendy Phillips, 1980 Moscow Olympic 400m relay bronze medallist Joslyn Hoyte-Smith (Lady Mary was a GB Team manager in Moscow) and Gillian Hetherington, Executive Manager of the Mary Peters Trust.
Speaking after her ceremony, Lady Mary said: “It is a privilege to receive this ancient and illustrious accolade, and to join such a remarkable group of luminaries from many walks of life.
“Over 50 years ago, I said that I’d brought back my gold medal for the people of Northern Ireland and now, I’m honoured both personally and on behalf of everyone back home to accept the Freedom of the City of London.
“I’m especially proud to be given this award on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the Mary Peters Trust which we will celebrate during 2025.
“Sport brings people together in amazing ways and I’m so proud of Northern Ireland’s sporting achievements, especially, at the recent Paris Olympics. Our athletes – almost all of whom are Mary Peters Trust athletes – gained more medals than ever before, competing for both Team Ireland and Team GB.”
Joslyn Hoyte-Smith, Wendy Phillips, Lady Mary and Gillian Hetherington
During her sporting career, Lady Mary won the following medals:
- Silver in the 1966 Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica, for shot putt (representing Northern Ireland)
- Gold at the 1972 Olympics in Munich for pentathlon (representing Great Britain)
- Gold in the 1970 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh for shot put and Gold for pentathlon (representing Northern Ireland)
- Gold in the 1974 Commonwealth Games in Christchurch, New Zealand for pentathlon (representing Northern Ireland)
Between 1962 and 1972, she set 25 British records and was appointed GB Women’s Athletics Team Manager from 1979 to 1984, covering the Moscow and Los Angeles Olympics.
In 1975, Lady Mary established her Trust which provides funding for young athletes from disabled and able-bodied sports to help them develop careers in their chosen sports.
Her many honours include MBE (1973), CBE (1990), Dame Commander of the British Empire (2000), Companion of Honour (2015) and in 2019, she was invested into The Most Noble Order of the Garter as a Lady Companion. Lady Mary also had the honour of being Lord Lieutenant for the County Borough of Belfast.
Former Lord Mayor Professor Michael Mainelli said: “With a mightily impressive haul of four Gold medals and a Silver from both the Olympics and Commonwealth Games, Mary Peters has earned a place in sporting history and through the work of her charitable trust, she and her colleagues are taking great pride in supporting and inspiring young athletes.
“Such hard and committed work – both, on and away from the athletics track – is eminently worthy of recognition and our admiration, and it has been my pleasure to nominate Mary for the City’s award.”
Sir William Russell said: “Few of us will experience the thrill and emotion of standing on a winners’ podium, hear our country’s national anthem and as applause reaches a crescendo around the stadium, have a gold medal draped around your neck.
“Today’s Freedom award is richly deserved, not just for Mary’s sporting achievements, which have seen her standing proudly on the podium on five momentous occasions, but also for her charitable work with young people who have been inspired by her and want to achieve their own goals.”
Policy Chairman of the City of London Corporation, Chris Hayward, added: “Mary Peters recognises that sport can transform lives, which binds together people and local communities, and even though we know that it drives London’s economic success, creates jobs, and makes us healthier, you can’t put a monetary value on sport’s value to society.
“I applaud Mary for her achievements in the pentathlon and shot put, and her charitable endeavours through the Trust, and I offer her my warmest congratulations on being admitted into the Freedom.”
As well as being nominated for, or applying for, the Freedom, it is also offered by the City of London Corporation to individuals as a way of paying tribute to their outstanding contribution to London or public life, or to celebrate a very significant achievement.
Recent high-profile recipients include former Chief Economist at the Bank of England, Andy Haldane; Chief Medical Officer for England, Sir Chris Whitty; former Managing Director and Chief Privacy Officer at the London Stock Exchange, Vivienne Artz; and ‘Hamilton’ actor and musician, Giles Terera.
Previous Northern Ireland recipients have been David McCorkell KStJ DL, Dr Sheelagh Hillan MBE, Adrian Donaldson MBE CStJ DL and Ian Paisley Jr.
