PrintIn this monthly series leading up to the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in September and October, we watch a different competitor each month prepare for competition.
Winning an individual gold medal at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games had been Megan Benjamin’s goal for years. So when she stood atop the podium and looked at the gold medal hanging around her neck at the 2006 WEG, her mind spun.
“I’d actually hoped to win with the team—that had always been my first and biggest goal,” said Benjamin, who helped the U.S. team take silver in 2006. “Winning the individual gold wasn’t something I’d planned for or worked for that summer. It was something that was pretty surprising. I’d been crossing my fingers that I might get bronze.
“I think as an athlete, having lower expectations and winning is less emotional than having high expectations and winning,” she added. “When I was little, like 8 or 9 years old, I always imagined myself on the podium, crying as they played the national anthem. But it never happened that way! I never cried, and I wasn’t even particularly emotional about it. But my mom always talks about how the week after the Games was hell for her because she could see me realizing that I’d just achieved my biggest goal. And then I started wondering, ‘What am I supposed to do with my life?’ ”
Benjamin, who was 18 in 2006, had spent years working toward the 2010 WEG, so earning gold four years early snatched the rug from underneath her.
“My ultimate decision was to take a break from vaulting. I needed to figure out what was important to me beyond just winning, so I took two years off,” Benjamin said.
Word went out that Benjamin had retired. And she gave up on her dreams of 2010 WEG gold—until a phone call from a friend changed everything.
Rosalind Ross, a teammate of Benjamin’s from the ’06 WEG, appealed to her to join the U.S. team for the 2008 Vaulting World Championships. Benjamin’s initial reluctance gave way to a renewed enjoyment of the sport and relit her competitive fire. And she’s now traveling the road to the 2010 WEG in Kentucky with a newfound determination.
Not Even If A Miracle Happened
Since Benjamin, now 22, had originally planned to keep vaulting after the 2006 WEG, she’d enrolled at Santa Clara University (Calif.)—close to home, her coach and vaulting team. But after a year there, she transferred to Cornell University (N.Y.).
“I realized that for my own happiness, I needed to pursue my academic passions. When the goal of Kentucky in 2010 went away, I decided I needed to focus on other things,” she said.
Benjamin, a history major, enjoyed experiencing college. “I’ve always been a bit of a nerd, and Cornell is a great place. I’m surrounded by a lot of people who are like me but have all kinds of different passions. I took a lot of high-level history courses and got very much involved in the Cornell community,” she said.
And then that spring her phone rang with the request to return to vaulting.
“At first, I thought, ‘No way is that happening,’ ” Benjamin recalled. “Not only had I spent two years out of the sport, but also the past semester I’d spent doing nothing. I didn’t gain weight, but I didn’t have the muscle mass I once did, and I wasn’t nearly as strong as I’d been. They were asking me in May, and the championships were in August. I thought there was no way I could get ready in four months, not even if a miracle happened.”
