Gold medals, awards and broadcasting moments: Wolverhampton's golden couple Hugh Porter and Anita Lonsbrough

It's been a life full of achievements fro the couple: from Olympic, Commonwealth, European and World gold medals to a life in broadcasting - to a retirement that's been just as busy as their working lives.

Cyclist Hugh and swimmer Anita have achieved major honours in their sporting careers including championships in their respective disciplines, found successful careers in the media and broadcasting, and served as charity ambassadors for Compton Care.

Hugh was born in Wolverhampton on January 27, 1940, and grew up in the city, with cycling becoming a huge part of his life when he joined Wolverhampton Wheelers at 16, then began winning races as a senior in 1958.

Anita was born in York on August 10, 1941, and made Huddersfield her home at the age of 14, having lived in India and Harrogate due to her father being a Sergeant Major in the Coldstream Guards, and won her first medals at the age of 16 at the 1958 Empire Games in Cardiff.

The couple have never forgotten the moment they first met on the British athletes' plane to the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics.

Anita said they were on the last leg of the flight to Japan and she had been struggling to sleep, so had gone up to the front of the plane to see the view from the cockpit.

She said: “We were all in our different sport groups and the swimmers were at the back of the plane and it was night time and I couldn’t sleep, so I was allowed to go up to where the pilots were and see the view.

“As I was heading back, there were the modern pentathlon boys sitting opposite the cycling team and I knew a few of the modern pentathlon team from the Rome games, so I started chatting to them.

“The cyclists then got involved in the chat and then Hughie leaned over to invite me to breakfast with him and the team when we got to Tokyo.”

Hugh said: “That was how we got to know each other as, in those days, the flight to Tokyo was done in stages, landing every seven hours to refuel, so there were a lot of stops on the way.

“I started chatting to Anita on the plane and we sat down together and talked and just enjoyed each other’s company.

“We weren’t staying near each other as the swimmers were at the main village and the cyclists were in a village 25 miles away, so the next time I saw her was at the opening ceremony when she became the first woman to carry the flag, and we had a good chat then.”

Following the completion of their events, Hugh and Anita said they spent more time together after the cycling team moved into the main village, going shopping and attending the closing ceremony and events afterwards.

On their return to the UK the couple began to work out how to see each other more, with Hugh living in Wolverhampton and Anita in Huddersfield, but Anita said that as Hugh began to train more for his cycling career, she was spending more time in the Midlands and could remember the dates from meeting to marrying Hugh.

She said: "We met on September 25, 1964, we were engaged on March 5, 1965 and got married at St Peter's Parish Church in Huddersfield on June 17, 1965.

"I realised that it was costing a lot of money for me to travel down here as Hughie was training, so I got the job down here in Wolverhampton and we were able to get engaged and then get married."