Stuart Ballantyne, chief executive officer of the 2015 Canada Winter Games in Prince George, has been recognized with a prestigious award for his contributions to sport in Canada.

Ballantyne recently received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal from Tom Quinn, chairman of the Canada Games Council. The award was created to mark the 60th anniversary of the Queen's ascension to the throne and will be presented to 60,000 deserving Canadians this year.

"I am honoured and deeply touched to be awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal," Ballantyne said. "My success in, and contributions to, the sports and entertainment industry are directly attributed to the hard work by and dedication of an entire team of individuals and I share this award with all of the colleagues, staff, and volunteers of the great events I have been blessed to work on."

Ballantyne was named CEO of the 2015 Canada Winter Games in August of 2011 and, since then, has been spearheading preparations for the multi-sport and cultural event. His history with the Games is a long one. In the 1977 Canada Summer Games, he was a double gold-medalist in swimming.

Ballantyne has also served as the chief operating officer of the Western Hockey League's Vancouver Giants, was project director for Molson Canadian Hockey House during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and was CEO of the 2009 World Police and Fire Games in Vancouver. His background also includes filling the general manager's role for the 2007 Memorial Cup and the 2006 World Junior Hockey Championship. Prior to that, Ballantyne was general manager of the Vancouver Molson Indy auto race (1996 to 2003).

The 2015 Canada Winter Games will be held Feb. 12 to March 1 of that year.