Dame Tanni, who won a total of 11 gold medals and was awarded the OBE and the MBE and was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2005, claimed there was "lack of parity" in the honours system.

 

Every Olympic gold medallist at the Beijing Games was given honours.

 

However, 17 of the 35 Paralympic athletes who brought home golds missed out.

 

In an interview published today with the Daily Telegraph, Dame Tanni said the achievements of able-bodied and disabled athletes should be given equal recognition after the 2012 Games in London.

 

She said: "The reality - and it is surely not right - is that at the moment you have to multi-medal at the Paralympic Games to get a New Year's Honours list award.

 

"By the time 2012 comes around, we need to get this in order.

 

"There is a lack of parity, and we are playing catch-up.

 

"When I got my MBE after 1992 [after three golds and one silver medal at the Paralympic Games in Barcelona] there were hardly any Paralympians who ever received honours."

 

Britain's Paralympics team won 102 medals, including 42 golds, to finish second in the medals table behind China making them Britain's most successful Paralympics team in two decades.

 

Britain came fourth in the Olympics medal table with a haul of 47 medals, including 19 golds - their best performance since the London Games of 1908.

 

Paralympic swimmer Eleanor Simmonds won two golds and received an MBE, while Rebecca Adlington was given the higher-ranked OBE for her two golds.

 

But Wales Liz Johnson, a 22-year-old Welsh cerebral palsy sufferer who was overlooked despite winning a SB6 100m breaststroke gold in Beijing, was not offended by being overlooked.

 

She will instead be supporting boyfriend, cyclist Jody Cundy, awarded an MBE for services to disabled sports.

 

Johnson said: “Jody has won five golds after competing in four Paralympics.

 

"He crossed over from swimming to cycling and should have got an MBE a long time ago.

 

"It is long overdue."

 

Johnson said the plethora of medals won by disabled athletes in Beijing always made it unlikely she would be recognised.

 

There are 13 Paralympic swimming events for every one in the Olympics.

 

She said: "Maybe in London 2010, when the games are more in the forefront, there may be a chance then.”

 

Cundy competed in the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Olympics as a swimmer and won two golds at the Beijing Olympics as a cyclist.

 

To read the full article featuring Dame Tanni visit http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/paralympicsport/4061099/Honours-row-over-snub-to-19-Paralympic-gold-medallists.html.