Léon Ernest Moreaux (10 March 1852 in Féron – 11 November 1921 in

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

) was a French

sports shooter Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in a par ...

and Olympian who competed in

pistol A pistol is a type of handgun, characterised by a gun barrel, barrel with an integral chamber (firearms), chamber. The word "pistol" derives from the Middle French ''pistolet'' (), meaning a small gun or knife, and first appeared in the Englis ...

and

rifle A rifle is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting and higher stopping power, with a gun barrel, barrel that has a helical or spiralling pattern of grooves (rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus o ...

shooting in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Having taken up the sport of shooting earlier in the 19th century, at the age of 38 he prepared himself for competition in the

1900 Olympic Games The 1900 Summer Olympics (), today officially known as the Games of the II Olympiad () and also known as Paris 1900, were an international multi-sport event that took place in Paris, France, from 14 May to 28 October 1900. No opening or closin ...

, which were held in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in his home country. He participated in

shooting at the 1900 Summer Olympics At the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris, many Shooting sports, shooting events were featured within the concurrent Exposition Universelle (1900), 1900 Exposition Universelle, but only eight events currently are considered as "Olympic" by Internatio ...

and won the

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

in the 25 metre firearm and in the Military Revolver Teams 50m for France and won another silver medal. He also competed in a number of other shooting competitions including the Free Rifle standing and kneeling competitions, where he finished 17th place in each, and in the Free Rifle (prone) competition where he narrowly missed the

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

, finishing fourth. He also competed in the Free Pistol event where he finished in 7th place, and in the

trap shooting Trap shooting is one of the three major disciplines of competitive clay pigeon shooting. The other disciplines are skeet shooting and sporting clays. Trap shooting is distinguished by the targets being launched from a single "house" or machine, ...

competition where he finished 16th place out of 31. 1906 was Moreaux's most successful year in sport shooting. In

shooting at the 1906 Intercalated Games At the 1906 Summer Olympics in Athens, sixteen events in sport shooting, shooting were contested. Now called the ''Intercalated Games'', the 1906 Games are no longer considered as an official Olympic Games by the International Olympic Committee. ...

he entered in ten different categories, winning a total of five Olympic medals including his first

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

s. He won two gold medals in the 20m duelling pistol and in the 200 metre army rifle, a silver medal in the 25 metres firearm, and two bronze medals in the Free Rifle Free Position and the Free Rifle Team. Moreaux competed in the Military Rifle event and finished fourth, in the Military revolver event and finished fifth, and in the Duelling Pistol (au commandment), finishing in sixth place. He also competed in the Military revolver (gras) event but finished in 16th place and in the Free Pistol (50m) event, finishing in 19th position. Moreaux entered the

1908 Olympic Games The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were originally schedu ...

at the age of 46 and competed in the Free Team Rifle competition for France, but narrowly missed bronze, finishing in fourth position. At this point in his career, only four years away from age 50, he only competed in two other events – in the Free Pistol, finishing 17th, and in the Free Rifle Combined event, where he finished in 39th place. After the 1908 Olympics, Moreaux retired from professional competition. He won 8 Olympic medals during his shooting career, second to only

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

Konrad Stäheli Konrad Stäheli (17 December 1866 – 5 November 1931) was a Swiss sports shooter who competed in the late 19th century and early 20th century and participated in the 1900 Summer Olympics and the 1906 Intercalated Games. Biography He participat ...

(9) among his contemporaries and still among the top ten in Olympic shooting history.

References

External links

*
Léon Moreaux at databaseOlympics.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Moreaux, Leon 1852 births 1921 deaths French male sport shooters ISSF pistol shooters Shooters at the 1900 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 1906 Intercalated Games Shooters at the 1908 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for France Olympic bronze medalists for France Olympic shooters for France Olympic medalists in shooting Medalists at the 1900 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1906 Intercalated Games French military personnel of World War I Sportspeople from Nord (French department) 20th-century French sportsmen