Perris Benegas

Perris Benegas
Personal information
Full namePerris Benegas
Born (1995-07-22) July 22, 1995 (age 29)
Reno, Nevada, U.S.
Sport
Country United States
SportFreestyle BMX, Dirt jumping
Medal record
Women's BMX
Representing  United States
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2024 Paris Freestyle
Urban World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2018 Chengdu Freestyle Park
Updated on August 6, 2024

Perris Benegas (/ˈpɛrɪs bəˈnɛɡəs/ PERR-iss bə-NEG-əs;[1] born July 22, 1995) is an American freestyle BMX cyclist. She won a silver medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Career

In 2018, Perris won the gold medal in Freestyle BMX park at the UCI Urban Cycling World Championships in Chengdu, China, with two other American women, Angie Marino and Hannah Roberts, taking second and third.[2] She was named 2020 Bloom BMX Freestyle Rider of the Year.[3]

Olympic Games

Benegas competed for the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics in the first ever BMX Freetyle Park event.[4] She came second in the seeding round behind teammate Hannah Roberts. The next day Benegas finished forth in the final, just 0.70 away from the bronze medal.

After suffering a anterior cruciate knee ligament injury that required surgery in June 2023, she returned to competition in May 2024. She won a silver medal in Women's BMX freestyle at the 2024 Summer Olympics on July 31, 2024.[5] Benegas provisionally placed forth after the first final run and improved to 90.70 to finish second in the competition behind China's Deng Yawen.

Competitive history

All results are sourced from the Union Cycliste Internationale.

As of August 6, 2024:

Olympic Games

Event Freestyle Park
Japan 2020 Tokyo 4th
France 2024 Paris Silver

UCI Cycling World Championships

Event Freestyle Park
China 2018 Chengdu Gold
China 2019 Chengdu 8th
France 2021 Montpellier 4th
United Arab Emirates 2022 Abu Dhabi 7th

UCI BMX Freestyle Park World Cup

Season 1 2 3 4 Rank Points
2022 MON
—		 BRU
2		 GOL
4		 5 1670
2023 DIR
2		 MON
4		 BRU
—		 BAZ
— 		5 1590

Personal life

From Reno, Nevada, she graduated from Edward C. Reed High School[6] and has a background in Muay Thai fighting. She lives with Kiah, her golden retriever dog in Raleigh, North Carolina.[7]

Benegas is openly gay.[8][9]

References

  1. ^ "BENEGAS Perris". Olympics.com. 2024. Retrieved August 7, 2024.
  2. ^ "Perris Benegas | BMX Freestyle Athlete". USA Cycling. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
  3. ^ "Perris Benegas". The Bloom BMX. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
  4. ^ "U.S. Olympic cycling roster set with road, indoor, BMX, mountain teams". OlympicTalk | NBC Sports. June 10, 2021. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
  5. ^ Bruton, Michelle (July 31, 2024). "Paris 2024 Olympics: American Perris Benegas Takes Silver In Women's BMX Freestyle". Forbes. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
  6. ^ Krajewski, Jim (July 23, 2024). "Northern Nevada athletes competing at Paris Olympics; here's how to watch". Reno Gazette Journal. Retrieved August 8, 2024.
  7. ^ "Join Vans Family: Earn Points, Get Rewards". www.vans.co.uk. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
  8. ^ "Perris Benegas Comes Out". BMX UNION. May 14, 2021. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
  9. ^ AS, Diario. "Deportes, todas las noticias y la actualidad". AS.com (in Spanish). Retrieved June 8, 2021.


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