Gregory Benko
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Nationality | Australian | |||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1952-10-09) 9 October 1952 | |||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||
| Country | Australia | |||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Fencing | |||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Gregory Laurie Benko (born 9 October 1952) is a retired Australianfoilfencer who competed at four Olympic Games.[1]
After participating in the 1972 Summer Olympics, 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 épée at the 1974 Commonwealth Fencing Championships.[2] He was a member of the Australian team that won silver and bronze medals in the sabre and foil at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games.[3] He also participated in the 1976, 1980 and 1984 Summer Olympic Games.[1] Benko was a finalist at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, the only Australian fencer to achieve that feat.[3] He was the last (and only second) fencer to win all three Australian open national titles (foils, épée, sabre) in the one year.