Emily_Benham
Emily Benham
British mountain bike orienteering athlete
Emily Benham Kvåle (born 1989) is a British mountain bike orienteering athlete. She is considered the world's all-time best female MTBO athlete.[citation needed]
Benham Kvåle has won ten individual World Championship gold medals (two in 2016, two in 2017, four in 2019, one in 2022 and one in 2023), has won the World Cup overall for four consecutive years (2014-2017) and a fifth title in 2019, and has held three European Champion titles. She holds more individual World Cup wins and titles than any other MTBO athlete, male or female, and holds first place in the all-time individual WMTBOC medal table.
In 2019, 7 months after the birth of her first child, Benham Kvåle won all four individual races at the World Championships in Denmark, becoming the first athlete to win all four titles in a single championship.
After two seasons (and nearly 3 years) away from domestic and international MTBO, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a second child, Benham Kvåle returned in 2022 to win a fourth long distance World Championship title equalling the record set by Christine Schaffner in 2010.