Bob Beck

One of only three U.S. pentathletes to win two Olympic medals, Bob Beck finished third individually in 1960 by taking third in fencing, third in shooting, and fourth in swimming. A disastrous effort in riding, due to a balky horse, cost him the individual championship by only 43 points. Beck also competed at the 1968 Olympics in both pentathlon and fencing. A strong épéeist, he was the AFLA national champion in 1961 and finished second in 1971. Strangely he never won a national title in modern pentathlon, although he finished second five times between 1960 and 1970. He won three gold medals in modern pentathlon at the Pan American Games with individual and team golds in 1963 and a team gold in 1971.

Beck attended the University of Virginia, and then served as an officer in the US Navy. He went to Harvard Medical School, where he earned both MD and DDS degrees, and later practiced as a dentist in San Antonio, Texas.