Christopher Stuart O'Loughlin (born December 13, 1967) is an American Olympic épée fencer.

Early life

O'Loughlin was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. His father was actor Gerald S. O'Loughlin, known for the 1970s

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

television drama police procedural series ''

The Rookies ''The Rookies'' is an American police procedural series created by Rita Lakin that originally aired on ABC from September 11, 1972, to March 30, 1976. It follows the exploits of three rookie police officers working in an unidentified city for ...

.'' His mother, Meryl Abeles O'Loughlin was vice president of casting for Columbia Pictures Television. He grew up in

Van Nuys Van Nuys ( ) is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. History In 1 ...

, California. His mother was Jewish and his father was Irish.Vittorio Tafur (July 26, 1990)
"Acting Career Foiled by Love of Swordplay: Fencing: Van Nuys native cuts wide swath in U.S. circles with an epee, but international success proves elusive,"
''Los Angeles Times''. Accessed June 5, 2022. While he initially had an interest in pursuing acting, O'Loughlin noted: "One of the things that I really like about fencing is that you get out of it what you put into it. That's not true with acting." He was introduced to fencing as a youth when he attended the Oakwood School in

North Hollywood, California North Hollywood is a neighborhood and district in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, El Portal Theater, several art galleries, and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Th ...

, which offered fencing as a sport. In 1985, he became the youngest senior US Championship men's épée finalist until that time. He graduated from high school in 1985. He enrolled in the University of Pennsylvania in 1986, graduating in 1989 with a degree in urban studies."Christopher S. O’Loughlin,"
University of Pennsylvania. There, he was a member of St. Anthony Hall and the Penn Quakers fencing team. O'Loughlin earned a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

Fencing career

While a freshman member of the University of Pennsylvania Quakers fencing team, O'Loughlin won the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA) Championship in épée in 1986. He was also a four-time

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

and All-

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...

from 1986 to 1989. He also won the

Intercollegiate Fencing Association The Intercollegiate Fencing Association (IFA) was the oldest collegiate fencing conference in the United States. It was affiliated with the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC). Membership In its final season, the IFA had 11 members. Corne ...

(IFA) Eastern Championship in 1986. In 1986 he received Penn's Peter K. Riley Award, as the outstanding freshman athlete. He was captain of Penn's fencing team in his junior and senior seasons. While attending the University of Pennsylvania he was the Junior US National Championship, serving on the Junior National Team in 1986 and 1987. O'Loughlin won a silver individual medal and a bronze team medal in épée at the 1989 Maccabiah Games. He was a member of the World University Games team in 1987, 1989, 1991, 1993, and 1995. He served on the Senior World Championship Team in 1990, 1991, and 1995. He won a bronze medal with the United States épée team at the

1991 Pan American Games The 1991 Pan American Games, officially known as the XI Pan American Games () and commonly known as Havana 1991 (), were held in Havana, Cuba from 2 to 18 August 1991. There were 4,519 athletes from 39 countries of the Pan American Sports Organi ...

. O'Loughlin competed on behalf of the United States in the individual

épée The (, ; ), also rendered as epee in English, is the largest and heaviest of the three weapons used in the sport of fencing. The modern derives from the 19th-century , a weapon which itself derives from the French small sword. This contains a ...

event at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

in Barcelona and was the first alternate for the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

in Atlanta. In 2000, O'Loughlin won the U.S. National Championship in individual épée. In 2012, he began competing at the Veteran level. That year, he won the silver medal in the North American Cup–Veteran Level, also winning the silver medal in 2016. At the April 2017 North American Cup, he won the gold medal in the Veteran 50 to 59 category and won a silver medal in the Veteran Open category. In 2018, he placed ninth in the USA Fencing National Championships, veteran age 50 to 59 category. That same year, he helped team USA win a gold medal at the 2018 Veteran World Championships in Livorno, Italy. O'Loughlin said, “I’ve been fencing for a really long time,” O’Loughlin says. “I’ve won a lot of national tournaments and done well internationally. But I never had the luck or good fortune to stand on the podium while they play the national anthem and raise the American flag. I honestly did not think it would affect me. But I was touched. I was really, really touched.” He also places seventh overall at the Veteran World Championships. His coaches are Alex Abend & Jim Carpenter. He is a member of the New York Athletic Club team, becoming national champions six times. He was chairman of the NYAC fencing. He was also the United States athlete representative to the Fencing Association.

Competitions

Honors

* US Fencing Hall of Fame. * University of Pennsylvania Hall of Fame. * Philadelphia Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, 2019. *NCAA All-American in1986, 1987, 1988, and 1989.

Professional and personal life

In 1990, O'Loughlin worked with NYNEX, later Verizon, as part of the U.S.O.C. Olympic Job Opportunity Program. Since then, he has held several executive positions in the telecommunications infrastructure and software industry. He is currently a Partner at IBM. O’Loughlin married Colleen Clinton. The couple originally lived in New York City, but now lives in Jersey City, New Jersey. They have one son. He is a Little League Baseball coach.

References

External links

*
Chris O’Loughlin Memorabilia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oloughlin, Chris 1967 births Living people American male épée fencers Olympic fencers for the United States Fencers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Fencers from Los Angeles Jewish épée fencers Jewish American sportspeople Fencers from New York City Maccabiah Games medalists in fencing Maccabiah Games silver medalists for the United States Maccabiah Games bronze medalists for the United States Competitors at the 1989 Maccabiah Games University of Pennsylvania School of Arts and Sciences alumni Columbia University alumni Penn Quakers fencers 21st-century American Jews Fencers at the 1991 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1991 Pan American Games Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States in fencing 20th-century American sportsmen