Olympics
In the 1996 Olympics, Benson had 17 strikeouts in as many innings and a 2–1 record, but with a 5.82 ERA. Benson beat Nicaragua to open up the games and then Japan, but it was his single loss (11–2 to eventual silver medalist Japan) which proved costly. Benson lasted only four innings and surrendered five runs, and the bullpen gave up another six, en route to an 11–2 bludgeoning that kept the Americans from advancing to the gold medal game. (Ultimately, the U.S. settled for a bronze medal in the sport it had invented, though this represented an improvement over the squad's failure to medal in 1992.) Altogether, Benson, in the unusual position of competing in his home state of Georgia yet on a world stage, "was one of the staff's less effective arms".
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