Greg Benko

Greg Benko competed at four Olympic Games for Australia (1972-84), fencing in individual foil and épée in 1976 and 1980, and individual foil in 1972 and 1984. He also won two medals at the 1970 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, with silver in team foil and bronze in team sabre. Benko won the 1975 Martini & Rossi Invitational in New York and the 1982 Paris Invitational.

Benko attended Wayne State University in the United States where he won the individual foil NCAA title in 1974, 1975, and 1976 and helped Wayne State win the overall team championship in 1975. His collegiate record in foil was 290-1, losing one match as a freshman. He was on the Fencing Academy of Michigan’s foil team that won the US team championship in 1979. He is a member of the Australian Olympic Hall of Fame and the NCAA Hall of Fame.

After marrying a Detroit woman, Benko and his family returned to Australia, where he coached youth fencing. He became manager of Balmoral Holden, a General Motors’ dealership located in Melbourne.