Hugh Porter

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Hugh Porter (2010)

Hugh Porter (born January 27, 1940 in Wolverhampton ) is a retired British cyclist . With four world titles in the singles pursuit , he is one of the most successful cyclists in Great Britain. Today he works as a sports commentator for the BBC .

Athletic career

Hugh Porter began competitive cycling at the age of 16. His father was also a cyclist and had taken him to the cycling track in Halesowen at an early age , where he had seen Reg Harris ride, among others . Hugh Porter himself trained on the local Velodrome in Wolverhampton and regularly took part in the weekly meetings of the Wolverhampton Racing Cycling Club .

In 1963 Porter was British Champion of the Amateurs in the single pursuit and in the same year he won third place in the same discipline at the UCI Track World Championships in Rocourt . At the pre-Olympic competitions in Tokyo, he won the tournament in the singles pursuit. In the following years he was British champion four times. In 1964 he took part in the Olympic Games in Tokyo in individual and team pursuit , but could not win a medal. He was also successful as an amateur in road cycling . He won the 1965 race from Brighton to London , one of the oldest British one-day races .

In 1966 Hugh Porter won the gold medal in the single pursuit at the Commonwealth Games in Jamaica in 1966 , and in the road race he finished tenth. Then he became a professional. After taking second place in the pursuit of the pros at the Track World Championships in Amsterdam in 1967 , he became world champion in Rome in 1968 , and was able to repeat this success in 1970, 1972 and 1973. He also took part in road races, but was rarely able to convince there. Porter has won the British Tom Simpson Memorial race twice . He started in 1970 in Leicester at home in the UCI World Championships in road racing for the British national team and finished 64th in the race.

In 1973 Porter suffered a serious traffic accident, as a result of which he could never get back to his old form.

Profession and honors

In 1976 Hugh Porter resigned from active cycling. Today he is one of the most popular sports commentators for the BBC and also works as a speaker at the Manchester Velodrome . Porter has been married to Olympic swimming champion Anita Lonsborough since 1965 . He was awarded the British Order of Merit MBE . In his hometown of Wolverhampton the "Hugh Porter Way", which leads to the velodrome, is named after him. In 2008 he was honored for his services to cycling at the World Track Championships in Manchester . In 2009 Hugh Porter was inducted into the British Cycling Hall of Fame . These are just a few of the many honors and awards Porter has received in the UK.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Pascal Sergent, Guy Crasset, Herve Dauchy: Wereld Encyclopedie Wielrennen . Eeclonaar, Eeklo 2001, p. 1505 (Flemish).
  2. ^ Helmer Boelsen: The history of the cycling world championships . Covadonga, Bielefeld, ISBN 978-3-936973-33-4 , p. 222 .

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