Brightwell was a member of Britain’s 4x400 metres relay team that finished second at the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Brightwell, who ran a brilliant anchor leg on a British team composed of Tim Graham, Adrian Metcalfe and John Cooper, finished second behind the United States, who set a world record.

But Brightwell played a vital part in another performance at those Olympics which saw Britain win a gold medal.

Brightwell’s fiancée of Ann Packer had already won a silver medal in the 400m and was entered for the 800m, but was in two minds about competing, thinking it might be a better use of her time to go shopping in the well-heeled Tokyo district of Ginza instead.

"Do you think I should run in the 800-meter heats tomorrow?" Packer asked Brightwell.

"Maybe I should call it a day and go shopping."

Brightwell was not impressed by his future wife’s plan.

"Shopping?" he said.

"You must be mad! 

"Shopping?

"This is the Olympic Games, not the Moulsford Village sports!"

Packer was still in two minds.

"I know, but I’m hardly likely to better a silver medal, am I?" she said.

"And I need to buy some presents for the folks back home."

Brightwell, captain of the British athletics team at Tokyo 1964, told her a few home truths.

"Come off it!" he said.

"Think about the British girls back home who would have given their eyeteeth to be here in your place!"

Fortunately, Packer heeded the advice and raced to victory in a world record time of 2min 01.1sec and in the process revolutionised the 800m.

"Ann’s win marked a revolution in women’s distance running because for the first time the 800m became a sprint event," Brightwell said.

"In some ways it pre-empted Seb Coe and others if you look at their intermediate times.

"People also forget the 800m was the longest distance for women in those days.

"Ann showed you could sweat and still have grace and femininity."

Packer retired following Tokyo 1964 at the age of 22 to marry Brightwell six months after the Games finished.

The couple had three sons: Gary, and two former Manchester City footballers Ian and David.

The self-effacing Brightwell was always happy that he was probably better known for his role he played in Packer’s career, rather his own achievements, which were considerable.

He had won gold medals in the 400m and 4x400m at the 1962 European Championships in Belgrade.

The same year he had also earned silver medals in the 440 yards and 4x440y at the 1962 Commonwealth Games in Perth.

Like Packer, he retired after Tokyo 1964 and moved into teaching.

He later went on to lecture at the then Loughborough College before taking up successive directorships with sports companies Adidas UK and Le Coq Sportif UK.

He also ran a fishing tackle business for 30 years.

Brightwell died on Sunday (March 6).

It leaves Graham as the only surviving member of Britain's silver medal-winning Tokyo 1964 relay team.

Metcalfe had died last July, while Cooper had been killed in the Turkish Airlines Flight 981 crash near Paris in 1974.

At the time of the disaster, which saw all 346 people on board killed when an incorrectly secured cargo door at the rear of the plane burst open and broke off, causing an explosion, it was the deadliest plane crash in aviation history.