“Let’s stretch the suit”
Ski jumper reacts to disqualification
Updated 12/31/2025 – 11:36 amReading time: 2 minutes
In Oberstdorf, second-placed Timi Zajc was disqualified because of his suit. The new chief controller speaks about the controversy at the Four Hills Tournament.
Ski jumping controller Mathias Hafele showed no mercy even at three millimeters. “The rule is the rule. You can’t make exceptions. We don’t make exceptions,” said the Austrian. He had disqualified the Slovenian Timi Zajc at the start of the Four Hills Tournament in Oberstdorf because of a non-compliant suit, thereby depriving him of second place. The German Felix Hoffmann also benefited from this, moving from fourth place to third place and thus making it onto the podium.
The disqualification is reminiscent of the suit scandal at the World Cup in Trondheim almost ten months ago. Back then, the Norwegians deliberately broke the rules by sewing a stiff band into the suits to make them more wearable. In the current case, the permitted length was exceeded: Zajc’s suit was three millimeters too long at the leg. A larger suit offers more surface area and therefore allows for more buoyancy and further jumps.
The 25-year-old at least reacted with humor: “Let’s stretch the suit a little, maybe everything will be okay in Ga-Pa,” Zajc wrote on Instagram after the start of the tour with a view to the New Year’s jump in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. His teammate Domen Prevc won comfortably in Oberstdorf.
The consistent interpretation of the rules was met with approval in the ski jumping entourage. Ex-professional Markus Eisenbichler emphasized as a Eurosport expert: “I think it’s good. That sets an example.” Inspector Hafele himself said that the suit still fit the first time it was checked. “But what they do with the suits afterwards. We can’t control whether they pull them or something. That’s absolutely impossible,” said the Austrian.