Perris Benegas ( ; 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. She was named 2020 Bloom BMX Freestyle Rider of the Year.
Olympic Games Benegas competed for the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics in the first ever BMX Freetyle Park event. 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. 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 EventFreestyle Park 2020 Tokyo 4th 2024 Paris Silver
UCI Cycling World Championships EventFreestyle Park 2018 ChengduGold 2019 Chengdu 8th 2021 Montpellier 4th 2022 Abu Dhabi 7th
UCI BMX Freestyle Park World Cup Season 1 2 3 4 Rank Points2022 MON— BRU2 GOL4 5 16702023DIR2 MON4 BRU— BAZ— 5 1590
Personal life From Reno, Nevada, she graduated from Edward C. Reed High School and has a background in Muay Thai fighting. She lives with Kiah, her Golden Retriever dog in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Benegas is openly gay, and she married Mikaela Herres on July 19, 2025.
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