Two of the Soviet Union's best-known Olympic champions of recent years, sprinter Valery Borzov and gymnast Lyudmila Turishcheva, have added two more 'golds' to their collections-this time in the form of wedding rings. They exchanged the rings in a marriage ceremony on Saturday (10 December) at Rostov-on-Don, the bride's home town on the Don River.

SYNOPSIS: Many well-wishers gathered outside the local wedding palace for what could be considered as one of the most celebrated marriages ever held in the town.

A simple ceremony was conducted by the palace manager and members of the municipal council, after which the newly-weds signed the register. The couple met at the Munich Olympics in 1972 where they both achieved outstanding success. There the bride won two of her three Olympic gold medals, and the bridegroom won golds for the 100 and 200 metres sprints.

Afterwards the reception for Mr and Mrs Borzov reflected their celebrated status. Many guests travelled from Moscow and Kiev for the occasion, and thousands of congratulatory telegrams were sent from many parts of the Soviet Union.

Mrs Borzov who retired from competition after winning her third Olympic Gold medal at Montreal, is now a gymnastics coach. But her husband has continued training, and is hoping to qualify for the Moscow Olympics in 1980.