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Hugh William Porter

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(born

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunians ...

, England, 27 January 1940) is one of

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

's greatest former professional

cyclists Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of Bicycle, cycles for transport, recreation, Physical exercise, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", ...

, winning four world titles in the

individual pursuit The individual pursuit is a track cycling event where two cyclists begin the race from a stationary position on opposite sides of the track. It is held at over for men and for women. The riders start at the same time and set off to complete the ...

- more than any other rider - as well as a

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

gold medal in 1966. He is now a commentator on cycling events, working most notably for the

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...

and ITV.

Personal life

Porter was born and raised in

and educated at the city's St Peter's Collegiate School. His father, Joe, was a cyclist and at 10, Hugh was taken to the Halesowen Velodrome to watch British sprint world champion

Reg Harris Reginald Hargreaves Harris OBE (1 March 1920 – 22 June 1992) was a British track racing cyclist in the 1940s and 1950s. He won the world amateur sprint title in 1947, two Olympic silver medals in 1948, and the professional title in 19 ...

. In his earlier working life outside professional cycling commitments he was employed as a draughtsman at

Chubb Locks Chubb Locks is a former brand name (expired 2010) of the Mul-T-Lock subsidiary of the Assa Abloy Group, which manufactures locking systems for residential, secure confinement and commercial applications. History Chubb was started as a ship's ...

Willenhall Willenhall is a market town situated in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands, England, with a population taken at the 2011 census of 28,480. It is situated between Wolverhampton and Walsall, historically in the county of ...

.Report by Mark Andrews, looking at his memories of the Tokyo Olympics and life since. He is married to British Olympic swimming gold medallist,

Anita Lonsbrough Anita Lonsbrough, (born 10 August 1941 in York), later known by her married name Anita Porter, is a former swimmer from Great Britain who won a gold medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics. Swimming career At the 1958 British Empire and Commonwea ...

; they met while travelling to Tokyo for the 1964 Summer Olympics and married in 1965.

Cycling career

Junior career

Aged 16, Porter began racing as a junior for Wolverhampton Wheelers

cycling club A cycling club is a society for cyclists. Clubs tend to be mostly local, and can be general or specialised. In the United Kingdom, for example, the Cyclists' Touring Club, (CTC) is a national cycling association; the Tricycle Association, Tandem ...

, finishing third in his first road race. He also became a regular competitor in weekly track league meetings at Wolverhampton’s

Aldersley Aldersley is a small suburb of Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. It is north-west of Wolverhampton city centre, within the Tettenhall Regis ward. Aldersley is a relatively modern part of Wolverhampton, with most of the housing stock – b ...

Stadium cycle track.

Senior competition

As a senior, he won his first race in July 1958 and by the end of the season another victory and other high placings led to a first-category licence for the 1959 season. First was the highest of three classes dependent on racing successes. Six victories came that season on the road, along with a gold medal on the track as part of his club's

team pursuit The team pursuit is a track cycling event similar to the individual pursuit, except that two teams, each of up to four riders, compete, starting on opposite sides of the velodrome. Race format Both men's and women's events are competed over ...

squad at the national track championships at the

Fallowfield Stadium Fallowfield Stadium was an athletics stadium and velodrome in Fallowfield, Manchester, England. It opened in May 1892 as the home of Manchester Athletics Club after it was forced to move from its home next to Old Trafford Cricket Ground. Fallowfi ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. He also won the Midlands title in the individual pursuit, but remained focused on developing as a road racer. In the early 1960s he represented Great Britain in the Tour of

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in 1961 (26th overall) and in the

Tour of Ireland The Tour of Ireland (Irish: Turas na hÉireann, known from 1985 to 1992 as the Nissan Classic) was a bicycle stage race held in August, which ran for 35 editions over a 56-year period. Irish rider Seán Kelly recorded the most wins, four. Th ...

. He also finished second that year in the season-long Star Trophy points competition assessed by results in set races through a season, and 17th in his first ride in the

Tour of Britain The Tour of Britain is a multi-stage cycling race, conducted on British roads, in which participants race across Great Britain to complete the race in the fastest time. The event dates back to the first British stage races held just after the S ...

. A year later he was 20th in the same event, and earned selection for the 1962 world championships in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

to ride both the road race and team time trial events. However, over-exertion in the time trial led to a poor performance in the road race.

First national track title

Porter still dabbled in track racing and in 1963 performed well in the individual pursuit at Aldersley Stadium's Easter international meeting, before winning the final 10-mile

scratch race A scratch race is a track cycling race in which all riders start together and the objective is simply to be first over the finish line after a certain number of laps. UCI regulations specify that a scratch race should be held over 15 km for ...

. Encouraged, Porter began to consider contesting the national individual pursuit championship. In the meantime, he also raced in the national 25-mile

individual time trial An individual time trial (ITT) is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock (in French: ''contre la montre'' – literally "against the watch", in Italian: ''tappa a cronometro'' " stopwatch stage"). There are also track ...

championship in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, finishing second. The individual pursuit championship was decided at Fallowfield Stadium; Porter was the fastest qualifier and, although headed in the early stages of the final, soon eased into the lead to beat Harry Jackson and win his first individual national title. Porter then travelled to the Rocourt velodrome, in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, for the 1963 world championship, where he reached the semi-final, to be pipped by 0.18 seconds by Belgian Jean Walschaerts for a place in the final. He won the third-place ride-off to take a bronze medal.

Olympic disappointment

1964 was dominated by thoughts of the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

where Porter was already selected to ride the pursuit, though he still defended his British championship, emerging victorious at

Herne Hill Herne Hill is a district in South London, approximately four miles from Charing Cross and bordered by Brixton, Camberwell, Dulwich, and Tulse Hill. It sits to the north and east of Brockwell Park and straddles the boundary between the borou ...

and shaving almost a second off the championship record. He also tested himself in the national 10-mile time-trial championship, finishing second, and was a member of the Wolverhampton Wheelers squad which won the national team pursuit title. However, while Porter qualified fifth fastest in Tokyo, he was suffering from a cold and was eliminated at the quarter-final stage, and went home without a medal, but he did meet his future wife, fellow Olympian and swimmer

whom he married in

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

on 17 June 1965. While Porter retained his British individual pursuit title and won several road races, 1965 was otherwise not memorable. He was defeated in the quarter-finals of the world pursuit championship in Spain (a timetable change meant he almost missed the contest, and, without his normal pre-race routine, he was narrowly defeated by Colombian Martin Rodriguez in the fastest race of the event).

Commonwealth champion

However, 1966 proved more successful. Porter began with 12 successive road race victories, and won a pursuit match in the Good Friday meeting at

. He then rode the Tour of Britain, winning one stage, finishing second on three other stages, taking ninth place overall and second place in the points classification. His road victories assured him of victory in the season-long Star Trophy series. Without any further track races, he travelled to

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

for the 1966 Commonwealth Games, where he set a games record in qualifying for the semi-final of the individual pursuit, and then beat Australian Jan Bylsma in the final to take the gold medal.

First professional steps

In early 1967 Porter turned professional, riding for the Condor Mackeson team. The step up to the professional ranks meant that in the individual pursuit he was now racing 5,000m instead of 4,000m, but in his first test at the distance, he emerged victorious, beating Dave Bonner to win the professional title in Leicester. Porter was then selected to race in the world professional pursuit event in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

. Porter qualified for the final, but, unsettled by a puncture to his opponent, Tiemen Groen, that forced a re-run, he was beaten by two seconds. Nonetheless, his silver medal led to contracts from track promoters, including an invitation to ride the London six-day race – his first. He crashed on the fourth day, breaking his

collar bone The clavicle, or collarbone, is a slender, S-shaped long bone approximately 6 inches (15 cm) long that serves as a strut between the shoulder blade and the sternum (breastbone). There are two clavicles, one on the left and one on the righ ...

, and missed contracts for other six-day races. However, he recovered and spent much of the winter track-racing in Belgium, finishing the Antwerp six-day before returning to England for the start of the 1968 road season.

Professional success

Porter began 1968 with a time-trial stage victory and second place overall in a three-day race in Bournemouth, plus two stage wins and sixth overall in the Tour of the West. He was then selected for the British team to ride the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

. Having retained his British pursuit title, he was expected to do well in the prologue time trial – and finished seventh of 120 starters. However, an injury returned and he abandoned on the third stage – a retirement that allowed him to concentrate on the world championship in

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in late August. He was the fastest qualifier, and recorded his fastest time of the championship in the quarter final, beating Siegfried Adler, then holder of the world professional indoor

hour record The hour record is the record for the longest distance cycled in one hour on a bicycle from a stationary start. Cyclists attempt this record alone on the track without other competitors present. It is considered one of the most prestigious reco ...

. In the final, Porter faced Ole Ritter, later holder of the outdoor hour record, of

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and beat him by eight seconds to win his first world title, an achievement that merited the Bidlake Memorial Prize for 1968. The following year Porter again qualified for the final of the individual pursuit at the Worlds in Antwerp, however he was defeated by

Ferdinand Bracke Ferdinand Bracke (born 25 May 1939) is a Belgian former professional road and track cyclist who is most famous for holding the World Hour Record (48.093 km) and winning the overall title at the 1971 Vuelta a España in front of Wilfried ...

, who started the final quickly and caught Porter within a dozen laps. Porter regained his title in 1970 on home soil when the Worlds were held at

Saffron Lane sports centre Saffron () is a spice derived from the flower of ''Crocus sativus'', commonly known as the "saffron crocus". The vivid crimson stigma and styles, called threads, are collected and dried for use mainly as a seasoning and colouring agent in ...

in Leicester, setting the fastest time in qualifying by seven seconds and beating

Lorenzo Bosisio Lorenzo Bosisio (born 24 September 1944) is a retired Italian road and track cyclist. On the road he won a team bronze medal at the 1967 World Championships. Next year he had his best achievements on track, winning an Olympic bronze medal and a w ...

in the final by eleven seconds. At the 1971 Worlds in Varese, Porter finished third, prompting rival

Dirk Baert Dirk Baert (born 14 February 1949) is a Belgian retired road and track cyclist. On track, he won one gold and two bronze medals in the individual pursuit at the world championships in 1971, 1972 and 1975. He competed at the 1968 Summer Olympics ...

to claim: "Porter is finished, he is an old man". However Porter rebounded the following year to take his third individual pursuit title at the Worlds in Marseille, defeating Bracke, despite Bracke holding a two and a half second lead by lap seven. Porter described this as his "most cherished" world championship: "I beat Bracke, the rider I had the most respect for... He held the Hour record, finished third in the Tour de France and won the Vuelta. He was some rider". In 1973 Porter took his fourth world title in San Sebastian, qualifying fastest and catching Martín Rodríguez in the quarter-finals (gaining revenge for the 1965 Amateur World Championships, also in San Sebastian, where Porter had also qualified fastest but had been knocked out by Rodríguez in the next round) before beating

Mogens Frey Mogens Frey Jensen (born 2 July 1941) is a retired Danish amateur cyclist who competed successfully both on the road and on track. He won, along with Gunnar Asmussen, Per Lyngemark and Reno Olsen, a gold medal at the 1968 Summer Olympics in ...

in the semis and defeating

René Pijnen Marinus "René" Augustinus Josephus Pijnen (born 3 September 1946) is a Dutch former racing cyclist. He became Olympic champion in the 100 km team time-trial in the 1968 Summer Olympics with Joop Zoetemelk, Fedor den Hertog and Jan Kreke ...

by ten seconds in the final after trailing him with seven laps remaining.

Commentary work

Porter is a TV commentator and public-address commentator at events. He started his broadcasting career at Radio Birmingham. He has often worked for

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside flag ...

and

ITV Sport ITV Sport is a sport producer for ITV. It was formed following the merger between Granada Sport and Central Sport.1984 Games in

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to the 2012 Games in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. He commentated on the

2009 Tour of Britain The 2009 Tour of Britain was a UCI 2.1 category race of eight stages from 12 September till 19 September 2009. The race was the sixth edition of the latest version of the Tour of Britain and the seventieth British tour in total. It formed part o ...

for

ITV4 ITV4 is a British free-to-air television channel which was launched on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc, and is part of the ITV network. The channel has a line-up that consists of sports, cult classic ...

, while also public-address commentator. Porter kept referring to the 'stage announcer', which was himself. Porter is a regular at

and Newport velodromes. He is the voice of the ''Revolution'' series at Manchester. He is often assisted by his wife

who sits alongside him off-microphone and helps him with his notes.Feature on BBC Sport coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympics He has also worked on the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

for the

...

, where he commentated on the

speed skating Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skatin ...

events. Hugh has joined forces with British Swimming and is now "the voice of British Swimming", commentating at all the major events throughout the year.

Honours

The Golden Book

Porter's achievements were celebrated in 1972 when

Cycling Weekly ''Cycling Weekly'' is a British cycling magazine. It is published by Future and is devoted to the sport and pastime of cycling. It used to be affectionately referred to by British club cyclists as "The Comic".

awarded him his own page in the

Golden Book of Cycling The ''Golden Book of Cycling'' was created in 1932 by ''Cycling'', a British cycling magazine, to celebrate "the Sport and Pastime of Cycling by recording the outstanding rides, deeds and accomplishments of cyclists, officials and administrat ...

.The Golden Book of Cycling – Hugh Porter, 1972
. Thepedalclub.org. Retrieved 24 December 2013.

Order of the British Empire

In March 1973, Porter travelled to Buckingham Palace and was made an

for services to cycle racing.

Other honours

Porter was presented with an award for Outstanding Contribution to Cycling at the World Track Championships in Manchester in March 2008. In 2009, Porter was inducted into the

British Cycling Hall of Fame The British Cycling Hall of Fame was established in 2009 as part of British Cycling's 50th anniversary celebrations. On 17 December 2009, the names of fifty one people involved in cycling to be inducted into the British Cycling Hall of Fame wer ...

. Porter was made Freeman of the City of Wolverhampton in 2009 and there is a road named after him in

, Wolverhampton ("Hugh Porter Way" which leads to Aldersley Leisure Village, where Porter's old club, Wolverhampton Wheelers CC, is based and uses the velodrome). He has also received an honorary degree from the

University of Wolverhampton The University of Wolverhampton is a public university located on four campuses across the West Midlands, Shropshire and Staffordshire in England. The roots of the university lie in the Wolverhampton Tradesmen's and Mechanics' Institute founde ...

. Porter is honorary patron of Halesowen Athletic and Cycling Club. In 2015, Porter was awarded the Outstanding Contribution to Sport award at the Black Country Sport & Physical Activity awards hosted by the Black Country BeActive Partnership where, accompanied by his wife Anita, he received a standing ovation on receiving the honour.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Porter, Hugh Living people 1940 births English male cyclists Cycling announcers Cycling journalists Olympic cyclists of Great Britain Cyclists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Cyclists at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Members of the Order of the British Empire Sportspeople from Wolverhampton UCI Track Cycling World Champions (men) Commonwealth Games medallists in cycling English track cyclists Medallists at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games