Perris Benegas

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.

Perris Benegas

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

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
2020 Tokyo	4th
2024 Paris	Silver

UCI Cycling World Championships

Event	Freestyle Park
2018 Chengdu	Gold
2019 Chengdu	8th
2021 Montpellier	4th
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]