USA Fencing Members Elect Nine to Hall of Fame Class of 2023

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — After a nationwide election, USA Fencing members have chosen nine members of the fencing family to join the USA Fencing Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2023.

The inductees embody some of the best moments in the storied history of fencing in the United States. They include Olympic athletes, successful collegiate coaches and a fencing innovator responsible for some of the sport’s greatest technological advances.

Members of the Class of 2023 will be inducted at a ceremony to be held during the 2023 USA Fencing National Championships and July Challenge, also known as the 2023 Summer Nationals. Date and location are to be announced.

Hall of Fame voting was open from May 17 to June 9. Ballots were sent to 9,942 eligible members of USA Fencing — a group that included members in good standing who were 18 or older and held a qualifying membership type as of Feb. 1, 2022.

Exactly 900 votes were cast — a turnout of 9.05%.

Meet the inductees below and find full voting results at the end of the post.

In the athlete category, the six inductees are:

• Kamara James, 2004 Olympian and a consistently successful epee fencer. James, who died in 2014, was a junior world championship medalist, a grand prix medalist and the winner of multiple national titles. (Read her full bio)
• Chris O’Loughlin, 1992 Olympian who has been an individual national champion at the junior, NCAA, senior and veteran levels. (Read his full bio)
• Hanna Thompson, member of the women’s foil team that won a silver medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and a six-time member of the senior world team. (Read her full bio)
• John Moreau, two-time Olympian (1984 and 1988) who went on to win the 2003 Division I epee individual national championship at age 52, becoming the oldest fencer to win a Division I title. (Read his full bio)
• Ed Donofrio, 1976 Olympian, two-time national champion and five-time national championship finalist. (Read his full bio)
• Sean McClain, one of just three U.S. fencers ever to win Division I national titles in both foil (2001) and epee (1994). (Read his full bio)

In the coaches category, the two inductees are:

• Ron Miller, who was appointed as varsity head coach at the University of North Carolina for the 1967-68 season and remained in that position until retirement at the end of the 2018-19 season (52 years). (Read his full bio)
• Charlotte Remenyick, who served as the women’s fencing coach at Northwestern before joining the coaching staff at Ohio State. She made OSU history by becoming the first woman to coach a men’s varsity team. Remenyick, who died in 2011, coached 16 All-Americans. (Read her full bio)

In the contributors category, the inductee is:

• Branimir Zivkovic, a fencing innovator who has been inventing and producing equipment since 1974 — including raised aluminum strips, redesigned masks and redesigned bell guards. (Read his full bio)

Athletes Category (the six selected are bolded)

Coaches Category (the two selected are bolded)

Contributor Category (the one selected is indicated in red)