APPLETON WIS. (WFRV) – As Ben Loomis launched off the Olympic ski jump in Milan, his 95-year-old grandmother, Dorothy, proudly watched with her friends from Touchmark in Appleton.
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“Well, he started when he was 4 years old,” Dorothy Loomis said.
Ben went from the small slopes in Eau Claire to the big ones on the Olympic stage, finishing 17th out of 36 in the Nordic combine on Wednesday.
“You have to start young, which he did,” Loomis said. “They start on small slopes and eventually get higher.”
While most of the Loomis family traveled to Milan, including her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, Grandma Dorothy stayed back watching every jump from her chair.
“All the children and their spouses and their children, quite a crew of them. With technology, we keep in touch,” Loomis said. ”It’s exciting to have it on camera so you can see it later too.”
And like any grandmother, she couldn’t help but worry for her grandson,
“I just pray he doesn’t fall and completes it like he wants to do; they put a lot of hours in training,” Loomis said.
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But whether Ben is in Milan or at home, Dorothy has the same message.
“Just do the best you can; we are watching you,” Loomis said. “I am very proud.”
