Saluting Derek Cotton: Olympic and Paralympic Games Referee Retires From International Duty

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — When the lights were brightest and the bout hung in the balance, Derek Cotton brought calm, clarity and respect to the strip. 

And now, after three decades of service that spanned the Paralympic and Olympic Games, Cotton is retiring from international refereeing.

Cotton’s résumé reads like a guided tour through modern fencing history. He refereed the Paralympic Games in Atlanta in 1996 and was the only U.S. referee selected for the Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000 and Athens in 2004. 

Internationally rated in all three weapons — foil, epee and saber — he served on the FIE Arbitrage Commission from 2008 to 2012 and on USA Fencing’s Fencing Officials Commission from 2001 to 2020, including as chair of Referee Development. At home, he mentored, taught and assigned referees at selection tournaments, strengthening the pipeline of officials for years to come.

Before he donned a referee’s suit jacket, Cotton was a fencer first. He started in 1983 with coach Ralph Faulkner, co-founded San Diego State University’s fencing team and trained with Ed Richards, Hezaburo Okawa and Cole Harkness. 

He spent 13 months in Budapest living and training with Hungarian national foil coach Sandor Beliczay. Competitively, Cotton was a three-time U.S. national finalist, a member of the 1995 U.S. men’s foil national championship team, a five-time U.S. Olympic Festival team member and a two-time winner of the Pacific Coast Sabre Circuit.

Colleagues say Cotton matched expertise with generosity. 

“I have had the privilege of knowing Derek for the last 24 years,” Mike Ross says. “Our conversations and lessons on life, careers, travel, fencing, refereeing, and so many other things have helped me become the person and referee I am today. His legacy for many referees will live on with the coming generation to learn through those who learned from him. Congratulations on an amazing international career.”

Kelly Koehler called Cotton’s example “one of professionalism and service.” 

“As a referee, he set the standard for respecting athletes and the sport at all times,” she says. “He shows the same respect at regional events as he did at the Olympic Games, and he taught many of us to do the same.” 

Cotton’s leadership broadened the picture of who gets tapped to lead. In a field that can default to promoting people who look or think like those already in charge, Cotton sought different voices and approaches — proving that great referees come in many packages. 

He also modeled a meaningful path for athletes after competition: officiating. 

As Cotton steps away from the international stage, his impact endures on every strip where a young official stands a little taller, listens a little closer and leads with respect.

“When we retire or need to stop competing, it often feels like coaching is the only option to really stay involved with the sport we love,” Koehler says. “This very fulfilling path Derek has chosen let him have a meaningful career outside of the sport but still be very involved.”