BMX freestyle rider Perris Benegas was just happy to be at the Olympics. After having ACL and meniscus surgery in 2023, the odds of that happening were stacked against her.
In May 2024 — just two months before the 2024 Paris Games — the 29-year-old competed for the first time since surgery. About a month later, she officially secured her Olympic return.
“I had no idea if I was going to make it to this point,” she told NBCOlympics.com after winning the silver medal in the women’s BMX freestyle event in Paris.
Benegas surprised everyone in the BMX world when she announced in July 2023 that she had undergone surgery.
That meant she would have one year to fully recover, train, and qualify for the Olympics.
“Every single day was just the decision of waking up and putting in the work on that day. You have your highs; you have your lows and lows were pretty low… I'm no stranger to hard work. I just dove in and committed a hundred percent.”
Experience at the 2024 Games
Benegas’ Olympics got off to a rough start when she immediately got sick upon landing in Paris.
“Honestly, it's been a pretty rough go for me… I've been fighting a pretty nasty cold, so [Wednesday] I didn't feel too great, but I just told myself, it's two minutes of my life, come on, I can do it.”
Her first ride was good, but not podium good. She had a clean run but didn’t have a high degree of difficulty in her tricks. She scored an 83.40, which placed her fifth after everyone finished the round.
“For me, my goal going into this was to just put a run down that I was stoked on with the tricks that I had planned. As long as I did that for me personally, I would walk away happy.”
She’d add, “Before the second run, I knew I wanted to switch up a few tricks and just something that would flow better for me.”
Knowing her experience would help her on a day full of falls in the competition, she adjusted her run to include a higher degree of difficulty and knew she just wanted to be proud of what she put down — regardless of whether the final result was a medal.
I ended up just before I dropped in, told myself, let's go. I have nothing to lose.
While the saying is cliché, for Benegas it was true — she had an improbable and quick recovery from surgery, a last-minute chance to qualify, and had entered just two competitions before the Olympics — she already had plenty to be proud of in making it this far.
“I just walked myself through it. Just took a deep breath and dropped in and each, it was just one step at a time, one step at a time. I finished the run, and I was so stoked on that and then it landed me on the podium and that was just, it was unreal.”
After all, it was that one-step-at-a-time approach that got her to the 2024 Paris Games. First, a needed surgery. Then, recovery. After that, enter her first competition in a year. Next, qualify for the Olympics. The result: win a silver medal.
However, the zero-sum result that many associate with the Olympics — medal or no medal — wasn’t what the BMX rider was worried about, a lesson from the Tokyo Olympics and her fourth-place finish.
“I came in with a completely different mindset … I wasn't so focused on the result. I was just focused on the run that I wanted to do, and for me, that would be good enough.”
Her riding style lends itself to needing to have that mindset. In a sport where tricks are constantly evolving and pushing the limits, Benegas knows her style is becoming less common — she focuses on having unique rides with a lot of speed and air. She revealed she doesn’t even watch her competitors because her approach is so different.
“Personally, I love to find unique lines on the course. I love to ride it with style and speed. For me, I stay true to that and, that was just something that has helped me in staying focused on myself and true to what I like to do, how I like to ride BMX and putting my style of BMX on the big stage. And no matter where it lands me, I'm just very grateful to have that opportunity to show that we can go just as fast and high as the boys.”
Her philosophy and acceptance that it was about the process — not the result — paid off. Her second run looked effortless as she landed clean trick after clean trick that featured speed and air. The judges rewarded her with a 90.70, which secured the silver.
She thinks the sophomore showing of BMX freestyle at the Olympics is just the beginning of where the sport is going, especially for the women.
“Each event [has] more and more progression. Everyone's hungry, everyone sees the possibilities and we all feed off of each other, we see the tricks that people are doing, and it just inspires everyone to go and to learn those tricks and to just continue to grow the sport and show that we can hang too.”
LA 2028?
When asked ‘what’s next,’ Benegas doesn’t know.
“Honestly, I'm just coming back from big injury. I just want to enjoy riding my bike and it was pretty full-on from injury til now.”
Benegas was quick to credit her family and her girlfriend, Mikaela Herres, for her ability to recover and perform so well in Paris. Benegas came out in May of 2021, and for her that really made a difference.
“The weight of the world is off my shoulders. I don't know that you really understand it until you're in that situation. I mean, just worried about what people think. It just feels nice to live free and to have my girlfriend here supporting me. Not only here, but through everything that I've been through.”
The cameras caught the two embracing after the race and Benegas tried to explain how much that moment meant.
“She sees the dark things. She sees it all. To still be here supporting me and even bending my leg for me when I couldn't bend it myself. She was there for all of that, so to be able to celebrate this with her and have this moment here and to just be happy and in love and myself, it's really amazing.”
So, with a new lightness and surgery behind her, Perris will see where the bike takes her between now and the 2028 Games.
“I just want to continue having fun. I have no set plans on what I'm doing. I just want to keep having fun riding my bike.”
For now, she just knows that Perris’ experience in Paris was exactly what she wanted — yes, everyone has made that joke to her.
“It's just, it's so sweet walking away with this medal and especially having my family here and having fans in the stands, the whole vibe of this Olympics was completely different and for the best.”