German Chancellor Olaf Scholz falls while jogging and bruises his face

BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz fell while jogging and sustained bruises to his face, prompting him to cancel some appointments this weekend, the government said Saturday.

In an emailed response to a query about the incident, the government said that the 65-year-old German leader had “a small sports accident” and canceled appointments Sunday in the central Hesse region, where a state election is being held on Oct. 8. But it said his appointments next week won’t be affected.

The Hesse-based Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper first reported on Saturday’s incident. It cited a prominent lawmaker with Scholz’s center-left Social Democrats, Michael Roth, who had invited the chancellor to his home town of Heringen and planned a discussion event with him there on Sunday.

Scholz has led Germany since December 2021. He previously served as the country’s finance and labor minister, and as mayor of Hamburg.

In a profile on his party’s website, Scholz says that he hated sports when he was at school but acquired a taste for it from his wife, Britta Ernst. “Today I jog as often as I can,” he says.

Scholz says he tries to find time for jogging, rowing or walking two or three times a week and also enjoys cycling.