Gregory Benko (born 9 October 1952) is a retired

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n foil fencer who competed at four Olympic Games. After participating in the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

, Benko was recruited as a member of the Wayne State University men's fencing team. He earned three varsity letters and three national championships in individual foil (1974, 1975, and 1976), a record at the time. Benko participated in several international tournaments over the years, notably winning the 1975 Martini & Rossi Invitational in New York and the 1982 Paris Invitational, and earning the gold medal in foil and épée at the 1978

British 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 ...

. He also participated in the 1976, 1980 and 1984 Summer Olympic Games. Benko was a finalist at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, the only Australian fencer to achieve that feat. He was the last (and only second) fencer to win all three Australian open national titles (foils, épée, sabre) in the one year.

References

Living people 1952 births Australian male fencers Wayne State University alumni Olympic fencers for Australia Fencers at the 1972 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1976 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1980 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games medallists in fencing Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Australia Fencers at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games Place of birth missing (living people) {{Australia-fencing-bio-stub