Huelet Benner

Who is Huelet Benner?

Sergeant Major Huelet Leo "Joe" Benner was an American multi-discipline pistol shooter during what many consider the golden era of international and national competition. He was a member of three U.S. Olympic teams. At the 1949 World Championships at Buenos Aires, Argentina, he won the 25 meter Rapid Fire Pistol title. 1952 was particularly a banner year for Benner. In Oslo, Norway in July, he again won the World Championship in the 25 meter Rapid Fire match, setting a new world record in the process. Later that same month, he took Olympic Gold in the 50 metre pistol event at Helsinki, Finland. This singular feat of marksmanship in two vastly differing events has been likened to a distance runner winning the 10,000 meter World Championship in record breaking fashion, and then taking the 100 meter Olympic Gold a fortnight later. At the 1954 World Championships in Caracas, Venezuela, he won the 50 meter Free Pistol title, and also took the silver in the 25 meter Rapid Fire Pistol event. He competed in two Pan American Games winning the Rapid Fire Pistol event in 1951 and the Center Fire Pistol event in 1955. Overall, during his 11 years of international competition, Benner won 13 gold, 6 silver, and 6 bronze medals and set two individual and two team world records.