Daniel Puckel

Daniel Puckel was a farmer’s son who attended the University of Tennessee, where he was chosen to the NRA All-American team three times. He started in sports as a gymnast. In 1959-60 he was a lieutenant in the US Army, and was selected as a member of the newly formed Army Advanced Marksmanship Unit. Puckel’s career was as chemical engineer, and he spent most of it with the Eastman Chemical Company.

Puckel competed at the 1959 Pan American Games where he had one of the great competitions ever, winning 12 medals and 9 gold medals. The 12 medals is the second-most all-time at a single Pan Am Games, trailing only American gymnast Joseph Kotys in 1955, who won 13 medals that year. In both cases, many of the medals were in team events. Puckel broke three world records in free rifle at the 1959 Pan American Games. In 1960 he won an international free rifle event prior to the Roma Olympics. He competed in three rifle events at the 1960 Olympics – free rifle; small-bore rifle, prone; and small-bore rifle, 3 positions.