John Moore

John Moore, known as “JAG”, trained at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst from 1951 until 1953 when he was gazetted into the Royal Artillery. He rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel.

Moore came from a family of Olympians. His father George was an Olympic fencer, while John’s son Mark was also an Olympic cross-country skier. “JAG” appeared in three consecutive Winter Olympics from Cortina 1956 to Innsbruck 1964. His best finish individually was in the inaugural biathlon at Squaw Valley in 1960 when he finished 29th. When Moore made his début in 1956, he was called up as a late substitute in the 15km for Jimmie Spencer,who withdrew with stomach trouble and mild pneumonia.

Moore won the Army cross-country title on many occasions in the 1950s and was also the British national champion in 1961. He competed in three Biathlon World Championships between 1961-63 with a best finish of 28th at Umeå, Sweden in the first of those years. Moore was honoured with an OBE in the 1984 New Year’s Honours list for his services to skiing.