Hugh and Anita: TV's new golden couple

Hugh Porter and Anita Lonsborough were the golden couple of the Beijing Olympics. Cathy Spencer welcomes them home.

Swimming and cycling proved to be two of our best sports at the Olympics - and Hugh Porter and Anita Lonsborough are struggling to hide the pride in their faces.

"It is wonderful that our sports did so well," says Anita Lonsborough sitting next to her husband Hugh Porter in their Tettenhall home.

"When Becky Adlington won gold in Beijing it brought it all back to me how it felt to triumph at the Olympics. I had a tear in my eye and a lump in my throat as it is 48 years since I took gold in the breast stroke in Rome.

"I had held that record for too long and I was delighted with how Becky did, she is a lovely girl and her swimming is fantastic. I knew she could win the 800 metres but the 400m is a bit harder. However, the Italian girl did a bad race and Becky was a total body length ahead."

Anita Lonsborough MBE has been swimming correspondent for the Telegraph since 1965 and Hugh Porter MBE has been BBC commentator for sports, including cycling, since 1979.

"When I'm not reporting on cycling I do the swimming, so I have commentated on both Rebecca Adlington and Chris Hoy," Hugh enthuses in his inimitable style that is familiar to those who have followed the Olympics.

"I really admire Chris Hoy because he was good at the 1km time trial, but it was taken out of this year's Olympics and so he had to re-jig his training. He did such a sensational job I think that we should be hearing the words 'arise Sir Chris', and Rebecca Adlington being made a Dame."

Hugh was born and raised in Wolverhampton and educated at the city's St Peter's School. From 1968 to 1973, Hugh was crowned World Professional Cycling Champion over the 5,000 metre individual pursuit discipline four times.

He won a Commonwealth gold in the 4,000 metre individual pursuit, clocking a games record that took another 12 years to beat. He also represented Great Britain at the Tokyo Olympic Games, is in the Sporting Hall of Fame and even had a Wolverhampton road named after him.

"Having Hugh Porter Way next to Aldersley Leisure Village named after me about five years ago was a great honour," says Hugh. "I was born in Myatt Avenue in Parkfields and grew up in that area. When Anita and I first got married we moved to Pattingham.

"A lot of people don't realise that Anita and I are married. We met on a plane from Hong Kong to Tokyo for the 1964 Olympics and, as we were the only people awake, we started talking.

"For those Olympics I was one of the top seeds, but I had a chest infection that ended up as bronchitis, I still competed and finished fifth. I don't think the training today is much different to what I did.

"However, when I was training I had to monitor it all myself, whereas now every ride they do is filmed and analysed on computers. They use wind tunnels and train in rooms that are the same humidity as it is in Beijing."

At 68-years-old, Hugh may be retired from compeitive cycling but it is still a big part of his life. "We arrived back in England on Sunday and we are still jet lagged," says Hugh. "However, I have still been out this morning for a 31-mile ride."

Anita says: "I mainly do aerobics to keep fit now as I can't swim in the public baths when there are so many people jumping in and bumping into me. Last time I went, one man kept getting in my way and so I did breast-stroke legs and gave him a good kick - he didn't bother me after that.

"I went to Patshull Hotel to go swimming and someone said to me 'you should have come in yesterday, we had an Olympic swimmer visit us' I wondered who it was, and it turned out it was me."

Hugh says he knew the Great Britain cyclists would do well in the Beijing games. "In the World Championships in Manchester at Easter we won nine world titles, but we couldn't have all those disciplines at the Olympics," he says.

"I thought we might win seven but we came away with eight gold medals and broke three world records - I was overjoyed.

"For the first time I had to do live commentating on the BMX racing, that was my baptism of fire as I had never done it before. So I went to Madrid earlier this year to watch some BMX racing, and then went to Switzerland in May to spend three days with the British team and get to know the rules of the race and the profiles of the people."

This week, David Brailsford, who masterminded Great Britain's cycling success in Beijing, has refused to commit himself to 2012, but Hugh says his clever management of the team is needed for the London games.

"David Brailsford is a great motivator who is at the top of a pyramid of people who all have to deliver gold medals or their funding is cut," says Hugh. "Everyone in the pyramid has to be the best, as well as the coaches, and psychologist, Steve Peters, who works at a maximum security prison.

"Steve had a key position in the jigsaw for the Olympic cyclists as his job was to talk to the team, fill them with confidence and ensure they were focussed on their goal."

Anita says the Chinese were kind and friendly people who made them feel welcome.

"I stayed in the media village in Beijing and had a large bedsit," she says. "They left lots of little gifts for us such as a painting that had been done by the children of China. Also, when Hugh went to the bank, he was given a set of chopsticks as a present."

During the last eight months, Hugh has received the gold badge of honour from British Cycling for service to broadcasting and cycling, and has also been made honorary vice president of the Manx cycling team on the Isle of Man. There are even calls for him to be given Freedom of the City of Wolverhampton, although the Wolverhampton Wheelers, which he has been a member of since he was 11-years-old, deposed him as president.

So, how do Hugh and Anita think we will do in the 2012 games in London? "I have heard that for the 2012 Olympics we are going to be able to pick our events," says Hugh. "I believe the 1km is going to be reinstated, which is good because we have so much talent coming up.

"In Britain we have just two 250 metre velodromes - we have fewer than they do in Paris and there are eight indoor cycle tracks in Germany. We should have another velodrome for 2012 and we deserve it as we have just produced eight Olympic medals."

Anita says: "We will do even better in 2012 as we have some superb youngsters coming through and Becky was an example of the hard training taking place."

Hugh added: "Chris Hoy is 36-years-old so he may still be happy to do the Olympics in 2012, or it could be Jason Kenny who is our champion.

"The amount of talent that is coming through is so frightening that there will be some excellent riders that will not get a place on the Great Britain team for 2012."

Anita says the opening ceremony in Beijing was impressive and we will have to try not to compete with them but focus on our own style. "I think for us to be as impressive in 2012, we have to be typically British and use our famous names and the history that we are so proud of," she says.

"We know what our jewels are, and it is important that we show the world what we have to offer in Britain."