Chris Benard (born April 4, 1990) is an American

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

athlete who competes in the

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to the long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down t ...

. He holds a personal record of , set in 2016. He was a finalist at the

2016 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 16th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held between March 17 and 20, 2016 in Portland, Oregon, United States. The event did not feature Russia. Following a WADA investigation into widespread and institutional doping practices ...

Professional

Benard made his international debut for his country at the 2012 NACAC Under-23 Championships in Athletics. There, he took the silver medal behind fellow American Chris Phipps.

Personal records

;Outdoor *

Triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to the long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down t ...

– (Wind: -0.0 m/s) (2017) *

Long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

– (Wind: +1.6 m/s) (2014) ;Indoor *Triple jump – (2020) *Long jump – (2014) *

60-meter dash 60 metres, or 60-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At outdoor venues it is a rare distance, at least for senior athl ...

– 7.05 seconds (2015) All information from IAAF

US Track and field Championships

At the

2019 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The 2019 USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships were held at Drake Stadium on the campus of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. Organized by USA Track & Field, the four-day competition took place from July 25–28 and served as the national cha ...

Chris Benard placed fourth in the

turned into a tough competition with winner Donald Scott who won on his first jump in wet conditions. At the 2018 IAAF Diamond League Final

Memorial Van Damme The Memorial Van Damme is an annual athletics event at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, Belgium, that takes place in late August or early September. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now the final event of the Diamond ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, Belgium Chris Benard placed fifth in the triple jump after jumping . At the

2018 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The 2018 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships were held at Drake Stadium on the campus of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. Organized by USA Track & Field, the four-day competition took place June 21–24 and serves as the national champi ...

Chris Benard placed second in the triple jump turned into a tough competition with winner Donald Scott who won on his last jump. At the 2018 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships Chris Benard moved from 7th to 4th in the last jump of the triple jump. At the

2017 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The 2017 USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships were held at Hornet Stadium on the campus of California State University, Sacramento in Sacramento, California. Organized by USA Track & Field, the four-day competition took place June 22–2 ...

Chris Benard was again in the top three of the triple jump. At the start of 2016 he took third at the USA Indoor Championships. This earned Benard his global debut for the United States, as he was entered into the

and finished eleventh. He repeated his same position nationally at the 2016 United States Olympic Trials, achieving a personal record of to earn his first selection for the United States Olympic team. At the

2015 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships The 2015 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships was held at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center in Boston, Massachusetts. Organised by USA Track and Field (USATF), the three-day competition took place from February 27 to March 1 and se ...

he was again in the top three of both horizontal jumps. He was short of seventeen metres at the 2015 USA Outdoor Championships and beaten into fourth place ( Marquis Dendy took the final spot on the team for the

2015 World Championships in Athletics The 2015 IAAF World Championships ( zh, 第十五届世界田径锦标赛), the fifteenth edition of the IAAF World Championships, were held from 22 to 30 August at the National Stadium in Beijing, China. Forty-three nations won medals, 144 of ...

). Bernard took second place in both the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

and triple jump at the

2014 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships The 2014 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships was held at Albuquerque Convention Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Organised by USA Track and Field (USATF), the three-day competition took place February 21–23 in conjunction with the USA In ...

, which included a long jump lifetime best of in qualifying. At the

2014 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The 2014 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships was held at Hornet Stadium in Sacramento, California. Organised by USA Track and Field, the four-day competition took place June 26–29 in conjunction with the USA Junior Combined Events Outdoor ...

he set another best, this time in the triple jump with a mark of – his first beyond seventeen metres. That brought him third place behind the top two at the last Olympics, Christian Taylor and

Will Claye Will Claye (born June 13, 1991) is an American track and field athlete of Sierra Leonean descent who competes in the long jump and triple jump. He won a bronze medal in 2011 World Championships in Athletics and the gold medals at the 2012 IAAF ...

Personal biography

Born to Fay and Thomas Benard in

Tustin, California Tustin is a city located in Orange County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. In 2020, Tustin had a population of 80,276. The city is located next to the county seat, Santa Ana, and does not include the unincorporated communi ...

, he grew up in nearby Corona and attended Santiago High School.

NCAA

Benard earned his place among America's top triple jumpers after graduation from Arizona State. Bernard earned eight

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n as a college student-athlete. He gained an

athletic scholarship An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university or a private high school awarded to an individual based predominantly on his or her ability to play in a sport. Athletic scholarships are common in the United Stat ...

to attended

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in t ...

and competed for the

Arizona State Sun Devils The Arizona State Sun Devils are the athletic teams that represent Arizona State University. ASU has nine men's and eleven women's varsity teams competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of ...

track team. In his last appearance at NCAA level, Chris Benard placed tenth overall at the 2013 NCAA Indoor meet. Chris Benard competed well at NCAA taking the runner-up spot at the 2012

NCAA Men's Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships The NCAA Men's Division I Indoor Track and Field Championship is an annual collegiate indoor track and field competition for men organised by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Athlete's individual performances earn points for their i ...

. Chris Benard competed well at NCAA level, coming 19th in his debut at the 2011

NCAA Men's Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships The NCAA Division I Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship is an annual collegiate outdoor track and field competition for men organised by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Athlete's individual performances earn points for ...

. Competing for

Riverside City College Riverside City College (RCC) is a public community college in Riverside, California. The college is part of the Riverside Community College District, as well as the larger California Community Colleges System. History RCC first opened in 1916 at ...

, Bernard earned two All-American awards in 2010 from

National Junior College Athletic Association The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), founded in 1938, is the governing association of community college, state college and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 separate regions ...

. Benard won the 2009 community college edition Mt SAC Relays as a freshman in a then personal best in the triple jump with a jump of to place first.

References

External links

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IAAF Diamond League profile for Chris BenardArizona State University February 2012 highlight profile of Chris Benard2016 FloTrack interview of Team USA Olympian Triple jump Chris Benard after qualifying for Rio Olympics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benard, Chris Living people 1990 births People from Tustin, California Track and field athletes from California American male triple jumpers African-American male track and field athletes Arizona State Sun Devils men's track and field athletes Riverside City College alumni Sportspeople from Orange County, California Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic track and field athletes of the United States Olympic male triple jumpers Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics 21st-century African-American sportspeople