Ski jumper banned from Winter Olympics after 'extremely stupid' mistake

Austrian ski jumper Daniel Tschofenig has admitted to making an"extremely stupid" mistake after being disqualified from the men's large hill individual event final at this year's Winter Olympics.

Tschofenig was one of the favourites coming into the event after winning the men's ski jumping World Cup title in 2025.

The 23-year-old, who has been described as "ski-jumping's newest superstar" by Red Bull, had qualified for Saturday’s final with a score of 137.7 in the first round and was in with a chance of making the podium.

But the Austrian was disqualified from the event after his footwear was found to have been four millimetres (0.4cm) larger than the rules permitted.

"I was surprised," he said after the news was made official. "I wore a new shoe during training, and wasn’t actually that happy with it, but I stuck with it."

He added: "Unfortunately, I was naive and didn’t measure it. Extremely stupid of me, there was just so much stress going on. But rules are rules."

Daniel Tschofenig of Team Austria in action during the Men's Large Hill Individual Trial Round. Image credit: Getty

Tschofenig's immediate rule breach gave Slovakia's Hektor Kapustik a place in the final.

Former ski jumper Jernej Damjan, who represented Slovenia at the Olympic Games on four occasions, responded to the incident, saying: "It’s big news. Daniel Tschofenig out and Hektor Kapustik in, which is good for Slovakia.

"Tschofenig finally finding something extra and when he does, he gets kicked out. There was a huge improvement compared to training and he found something even more in this first round.

Damjan added: "He was in eighth place before this disqualification which was not a bad position to be in, he still had a chance to attack."

Daniel Tschofenig of Team Austria prepares to jump during the Men's Large Hill Individual Trial Round. Image credit: Getty

As the news broke following Tschofenig's initial jump, TNT Sports commentator Ian Findlay gave his reaction while on air.

"Hang on folks, there are some changes here," Findlay said. "We’re just getting news that there has been a disqualification for Daniel Tschofenig.

"The big news just after the first round, Tschofenig disqualified due to boot size, four millimetres over. He is out of the competition, the first disqualification we’ve had at these Olympic Games in ski jumping and it meant Hector Kapustik gets in."

Slovenia's Domen Prevc eventually won gold with an overall score of 301.8, while Japan's Ren Nikaido and Poland's Kacper Tomasiak made up the podium.