Sport star honoured at Minster

161116 Hannah Cockcroft and Jamie Peacock getting ready to receive their Honorary Doctor of Health Sciences degrees from York St John University at a ceremony at York Minster .

Now Hannah Cockroft and Jamie Peacock have been awarded honorary degrees from York St John University in the stunning setting of the city’s Minster.

Hannah from Halifax is a Paralympic wheelchair racer specialising in sprint distances in the T34 classification.

She holds the Paralympic and world records for the 100 metres, 200 metres and 400 metres in her classification.

Returning from the Rio Olympics in 2016, Hannah celebrated winning gold in the T34 100 metres, 400 metres and 800 metres titles.

Jamie Peacock played for Leeds Rhinos and Bradford Bulls in the Super League and captained both Great Britain and England at international level. He is one of the most successful players in Super League history, having won a total of nine Super League championships, four Challenge Cup winners’ medals.

Professor Karen Stanton, Vice Chancellor of York St John University, said: “Graduation is an exciting and rewarding time for all our students and this year we are delighted to be awarding honorary degrees to some truly inspirational people in our 175th year.”

Honorary degrees were presented by Chancellor of York St John University and Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu in front of graduands, their families and friends, staff and guests.