Home Town - Saratoga, CA

Megan is the current WEG Individual Women’s Champion and the first U.S. woman to win the Gold. It was in 2006 that she competed as both an individual on Leonardo (Denmark), lunged by Lasse Kristensen; and on Team USA, which took the silver team medal vaulting on Grand Gaudino (Germany), lunged by Dr. Silke Bartl in Aachen.

Returning after a brief retirement, she vaulted with Team USA at the 2008 World Vaulting Championships in Brno, Czech Republic, winning a bronze medal with the team again on Leonardo (Denmark), lunged by Kristensen.

Benjamin also won last year’s Kentucky Gold Cup   and the North American Young Riders Competition. That’s just the frosting. Her list of wins goes way back and she will give nothing less than her strongest effort at the Trials starting in May. With four opportunities to get scores in the upcoming months, we can expect her to be at the top of the rankings.

About her American competition, she has nothing but praise, saying, “Mary McCormick and Ali Divita are both very strong vaulters. Both are consistent and experienced (and both have competed in World Championships as individuals before.) As long as both of them stay healthy and can avoid injuries, I am pretty certain they will be two of the three representatives for the USA."

As for the Europeans, there is some serious competition. “Joanne Eccles of Great Britain, Anja Barwig, Simone Wiegele and Antje Hill of Germany, and Rikke Laumann of Denmark. The field of females is very deep and many of them are very talented. At the end of the day, it will be a competition based on whose horse is best and who is most consistent. She who makes a mistake will likely be out of the running,” she reflects.

The "she" will not likely be Megan Benjamin.