A Bethesda, Maryland, college student is competing for a spot to fence with Team USA in the 2028 Olympics.
But Lev BenAvram hit a speed bump earlier this year.
The college student was heading to a fencing tournament in Tunisia when he said Air France lost his luggage, which had his sabers, his protective gear and the rest of his belongings inside.
“It really had a deeper impact than just losing a regular bag,” BenAvram said. “When I get there to compete, I have to borrow stuff from friends and it really just isn’t the same — both from a standpoint of using not my own equipment, but also from the mental stress of having lost my stuff right before a tournament.”
The gear alone cost around $2,700, not counting all the clothing lost on top of that.
BenAvram said that what happened then could provide a great lesson to keep in mind going forward.
“It’s really about perseverance, and one thing one of my coaches talked about after it happened was ‘control the controllables,’” he said. “I can’t control whether or not Air France loses my bag, but I can control how I respond to it as a person and as an athlete and I can control how I bounce back.”
It took repeated demands and appeals to get compensated for everything that was lost. Eventually, BenAvram got about $2,000 back, which is the most an airline is mandated to compensate you for.
“When I lost it I was very stressed about it and I think it effected my resolve in that tournament a lot,” BenAvram said. “And I think it’s set me up for the future to much better deal with stressful situations in tournaments, on the way to tournaments, and all around.”
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