Prior to the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, Kyle Bennett was the first U.S. BMX cyclist to qualify for an automatic spot on the U.S. BMX Olympic Team.

Throughout his career, he was also named a BMX world champion three times and routinely landed on the cover of BMX mags like Moto Mag and BMX World. So, it’s extremely unfortunate to hear that, early Sunday morning, Bennett was killed after he was involved in a single-vehicle accident in Conroe, Texas.

According to police reports, he was driving his 2006 Toyota Tundra down a street at a high rate of speed when he lost control of it, veered off the road, slammed into an iron gate, and flipped the truck. He was pronounced dead on the scene by paramedics.

“All of us at USA Cycling were deeply saddened to learn this morning of the tragic and untimely loss of Kyle Bennett,” USA Cycling CEO Steve Johnson said in a statement released yesterday. “Kyle was a pioneer in Olympic BMX and an inspiration to those of us that knew him.”

Such a sad story. R.I.P., Kyle.

Preston Waters | Elite.