Ben Loomis of Team USA finished 10th in the Nordic combined team sprint ski jumping trial round on Thursday. Loomis's distance of 123.5 meters was a half-meter behind his teammate Niklas Malacinski. He might have caught him, but he ran into a leaf blower on his way down the big hill.
With the snow falling early and often throughout the Milan Cortina Games, people with leaf blowers have become a common sight at the 2026 Winter Olympics. At the Predazzo Ski Jumping Stadium they've been tasked with keeping the tracks clear for the ski jumpers. They blow away the snow and pull back the leaf blowers right before the skiers come flying down the ramp.
,When Loomis came down, one leaf blower was a little slow and caught him, as noted on social media. While NBC Sports's Nicole Auerbach confirmed that Loomis was contacted by the leaf blower, he decided he was happy with his result and decided not to re-jump.
He did - Loomis considered taking the jump again but decided not to. He said he re-focused and was happy enough with his jump. Nothing like that had ever happened to him before, he told me!
— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) February 19, 2026
The relief the event worker must have felt to hear that his mistake didn't ruin anyone's lifelong dream must have been massive. The only feeling that could come close is your dog becoming a viral star rather than cause an international incident when it runs on the course during an event. There's a thin line between wishing you'd never gotten out of bed and being part of a humorous anecdote.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as An American Ski Jumper Actually Hit One of Those Leaf Blowers During Nordic Combined.
