Chris Benard

Chris Benard (born April 4, 1990) is an American track and field athlete who competes in the triple jump. He holds a personal record of 17.21 m (56 ft 5 ¹⁄₂ in), set in 2016. He was a finalist at the 2016 IAAF World Indoor Championships.

Born to Fay and Thomas Benard in Tustin, California, he grew up in nearby Corona and attended Santiago High School. He gained an athletic scholarship to attended Arizona State University and competed for the Arizona State Sun Devils track team. He competed three times at NCAA level, coming 19th in his debut at the 2011 NCAA Men's Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships, then taking the runner-up spot at the 2012 NCAA Men's Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships. In his last appearance he placed twelfth overall at the NCAA Indoor meet.

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.

Benard earned his place among America's top triple jumpers after graduation from Arizona State. He took second place in both the long jump and triple jump at the 2014 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships, which included a long jump lifetime best of 8.10 m (26 ft 6 ³⁄₄ in) in qualifying. At the 2014 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships he set another best, this time in the triple jump with a mark of 17.10 m (56 ft 1 in) – his first beyond seventeen metres. That brought him third place behind the top two at the last Olympics, Christian Taylor and Will Claye. At the 2015 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships 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).