In 1904, he won a silver medal in wrestling's heavyweight category, bronze medals in weightlifting's two hand lift and all-around dumbbell events, and another bronze in the tug of war competition as a member of the Southwest Turnverein of Saint Louis No. 2 team.
He was a member of the St. Louis Southwest Turnverein team, having immigrated from Germany to the United States, and was granted U.S. citizenship in 1913. The IOC listed him as a member of the U.S. delegation until 2022,[2] when it assigned the medals he had won at the 1904 St. Louis Olympics to Germany.[3][4][5]
Despite taking last place in nine of the 10 events in the dumbbell competition, he won the bronze medal as there were only three competitors. Kugler is the only competitor to win a medal in three different sports at the same Olympic Games.