Overview
- On Tuesday, Sept. 2 a passenger put his foot in the path of Lucas Benítez while he performed on Line B of the Buenos Aires subway and the act was captured on video that later went viral.
- Other riders intervened on the train, confronted the attacker and demanded an apology, and Benítez was able to finish his routine after the episode.
- The fall damaged Benítez’s skate plate and he says he needs 3,700,000 pesos to buy a new pair of competition-grade skates, so he has asked for public donations through the aliases patin.subte and @lucasbenitez.patin.
- Benítez told reporters he did not file a police complaint and that he will keep performing in the subway to fund upcoming competitions while training with borrowed equipment.
- Benítez is a five-time national champion who works in the subway to cover travel and equipment costs and he has a facial hemangioma that reduces vision in one eye, a detail he says has led to job rejections and underscores the precarious funding for lesser-supported sports.