Binghamton University’s first Olympian officiates in Paris

An intramural soccer injury did more than lead John Moreau ’77 to fencing. It began his journey to becoming Binghamton University’s first Olympian.

“Someone lent me a pair of spikes and I reached for the ball,” Moreau says of the day in 1970. “My ankle turned and they took me to the hospital: ligament damage. … So, I started working out with the fencing team.”

Soon after, Moreau received a phone call from fencing coach Paul Pesthy asking if he could fill in for a sick team member in a match against Syracuse.

“I said: ‘Coach, when do you need me?’” Moreau recalls. “He said: 15 minutes!”

With some guidance from Pesthy, Moreau defeated his opponent and the Colonials dominated the Orangemen. Moreau was “hooked,” becoming a fixture in the sport. Besides earning spots on the 1984 and 1988 Olympic fencing teams, he took part in 13 Olympic Trials in fencing and modern pentathlon, and won three bronze medals in the Fencing World Championships.

The journey continues for Moreau at age 73. He recently qualified for the 2024 Fencing World Championships in his age group, started his 10th year as fencing head coach at the University of the Incarnate Word, and returned to the Olympic Games in August as a judge for the men’s and women’s modern pentathlon.

“It’s been a great joy for me to pass that knowledge on and do things I probably couldn’t have done,” he says.

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Paris marked Moreau’s third Summer Games as a modern pentathlon judge. The rigorous, one-day event consists of two rounds of epée fencing, a 200-meter swim, equestrian jumping and a “laser run” that combines 3,000 meters of running and target shooting with a laser pistol. An obstacle course is scheduled to replace equestrian in the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.

Modern pentathlon has a long Olympic history. It has been part of the Games since 1912, when the first U.S. competitor was a young man who would later earn his medals on the World War II battlefields: George S. Patton. Pesthy, who Moreau calls “a father,” won a silver medal in the team event in the 1964 Olympics and qualified for the 1968 team before starting the Binghamton fencing program (the sport started in 1969 and was discontinued in 1976).

“These are the most complete athletes,” Moreau says of the event that saw Ahmed El-Gendy of Egypt and Michelle Gulyas of Hungary win gold medals in Paris. “It’s intense and exciting.”

Moreau, considered the top-ranked U.S. modern pentathlon judge, also officiated at the 2008 Games in Beijing and the 2012 Games in London. He says he was impressed by how Paris handled the competitions and festivities.

“There were a lot of good volunteers,” he says. “It was so well-organized and well-done. But I didn’t have time to go anywhere else. I was there to do a job and to do the best I could.”

Moreau did have time, though, to keep tabs on fellow Binghamton University and Union-Endicott High School alum Emily Mackay, who competed in the 1,500-meter qualifying round and semifinals in Paris.

“I was very impressed,” he says. “That’s a tough event.”

Moreau also had a couple of celebrity sightings on his way home to Texas. His scheduled Paris-to-Chicago flight on Aug. 12 was overbooked, so he sold his ticket and agreed to fly Paris-to-D.C. the next day.

“And then I saw Simone Biles getting on the plane. I could lie and say I sold my seat for her!” he says with a laugh. “She is so tiny. She was wearing sunglasses: How are you going to hide that height? She was so nice and sweet to the little kids [at the airport]. I’m sure every one of them will want to be a gymnast.”

At Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C., Moreau came face to face with one of his childhood heroes. Standing with Moreau in the customs line was Billy Mills, 1964 Olympic gold medalist — the only U.S. man ever to win the 10,000 meters at the Games.

“We got to talk and I told him what an inspiration he was to me,” Moreau says.

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Moreau arrived in 1969 at what was then SUNY Binghamton after running track and cross country at Union-Endicott. As a first-year student at Binghamton, he took part in the NCAA Division III cross country championship before joining the swimming and fencing teams. College success in fencing and modern pentathlon led him to leave Binghamton before his senior year in 1973 to enlist in the Army, which housed the U.S. modern pentathlon training facility at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas.

“Unless you had a silver spoon like John du Pont, it was a sport that’s hard to afford,” he says. “I couldn’t afford to [continue] it without help.”

Moreau returned to Binghamton and graduated in 1977 with a degree in art history. He received his master’s degree in exercise and sports science from Southwest Texas State University in 1984. He has fond memories of the Olympic experiences in Los Angeles and Seoul in 1984 and 1988, respectively, such as standing behind the legendary Carl Lewis during the L.A. Opening Ceremony and getting a photo taken with basketball great David Robinson in Seoul.

“Los Angeles was the best Olympics Games for camaraderie between the different countries and athletes,” he says. “It was so open. Everyone was excited to be there. The fencers were housed in the same dorm as the swimmers and divers. There was a guy laying by the pool: it was [diving superstar] Greg Louganis!”

After coaching at Texas State, Moreau was tapped to start a Division I men’s and women’s fencing program at the San Antonio-based University of the Incarnate Word. Competing against larger schools such as Notre Dame, Ohio State, Northwestern and NYU, the program has sent athletes to the NCAA Championships during each year of Moreau’s tenure.

“They have such a joy in competing,” he says of his student-athletes. “It’s about bringing the best out of them. Don’t overthink it.”

Moreau, who last visited Binghamton in 1998 when he was inducted into the University’s Athletics Hall of Fame, says “giving back” is as memorable and important as anything he has accomplished in athletics over the past 55 years. He recalls being greeted in an airport by a former student who thanked him for how he taught a fencing class at Texas State.

“It’s rewarding,” he says of those interactions. “I win by helping you win. Self-actualizing people can help make the world a better place. If we can get people feeling good about themselves, maybe they can give back [to others]. You can’t give what you don’t feel for yourself.

“We’re all Olympic athletes. Some people make it to the Olympics, but we all have our own little Olympic-level actions and moments in life.”