US Nordic combined athlete Ben Loomis hit by leaf blower at Winter Olympics

Ben Loomis was struck by a leaf blower as he went to launch himself from the ski jump start bar SportWinter OlympicsUS Nordic combined athlete Ben Loomis hit by leaf blower at Winter OlympicsBen Loomis was struck by a leaf blower as he went to launch himself from the ski jump start barTommy Lund & Liz HamptonThursday 19 February 2026 16:17 GMTBookmarkCommentsGo to commentsBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popoveropen image in galleryBen Loomis was struck by a leaf blower on Thursday (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)Your support helps us to tell the storyRead moreSupport NowFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.Read moreA US Nordic combined athlete faced an extraordinary hurdle during Thursday's Olympic team sprint when he was struck by a leaf blower mid-launch from the ski jump start bar. The bizarre incident occurred after an official failed to remove the equipment in time.Leaf blowers are routinely deployed during ski jumping competitions to clear loose snow from the in-run, with officials positioned along the track to operate them between jumps.The machine made contact with Ben Loomis on the shoulder, scuffing his uniform but causing no pain. The unusual collision did not appear to faze Loomis, who, alongside teammate Niklas Malacinski, went on to secure a seventh-place finish, taking the mishap in his stride.open image in galleryA dog wandered onto the course during an Olympic race on Wednesday (AFP/Getty)"Unfortunately one of them was a little bit too late pulling theirs (leafblower) out of the way, but they're human and things can happen," Loomis told Reuters.Despite being offered a chance to redo his jump, Loomis declined, citing worsening snow conditions that could have slowed his in-run."I was still pretty happy with the jump and had the opportunity to take a second jump, but decided that conditions were probably getting worse and it kind of mentally was my competition jump, so I was happy with it," he explained.It is not the first time that this year’s Games have been disrupted in unusual fashion.On Wednesday, a dog gatecrashed the women’s team sprint cross country, much to the amusement of specatators.The furry friend, speculated to be a husky but was actually a Czechoslovakian wolfdog, wandered onto the stadium course during the race to a howling reaction from the crowd.At the final straight, the canine found his way onto the snow and was briefly distracted by the trackside camera before trying to catch up the two competitors striving for the line.It then raced across the line behind Croatia’s Tena Hadzic and Argentinian Nahiara Diaz Gonzalez to rapturous cheers, greeting the exhausted skiers by sniffing out his competition.More aboutUSNordicJoin our commenting forumJoin thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their repliesCommentsMost popularPopular videosBulletinRead next