Zajc originally finished second in Oberstdorf on Tuesday night with Austrian jumper and defending Four Hills champion Daniel Tschofenig behind fellow Slovenian Domen Prevc.
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But he was disqualified after the competition because his suit was three millimeters too long. Larger suits improve aerodynamics in the air.
The FIS has tightened its rules after a major lawsuit scandal at the world championships in March involving jumpers and officials from host Norway.
“Rules are rules. You can’t make exceptions. We don’t make exceptions,” controller Mathias Hafele said of Zajc’s DQ.
Hafele said Zajc’s suit was in accordance with the rules at first inspection, but that “we can’t control… what they do with the suits afterwards. Whether they stretch them or anything like that.”
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Zajc’s fate was a small brake for the Slovenians, who were nevertheless able to celebrate the first victory in Oberstdorf against their dominator Prevc, ahead of Tschofenig and the German Felix Hoffmann, who rose from fourth to third place.
Prevc became the first Slovenian to win in Oberstdorf by taking his sixth victory in the last seven events in a landslide by 17.5 points.
That gives him a huge cushion of more than 10 meters before Thursday’s second stop in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and rivals are under no illusions.
Tschofenig was glad to have regained his form when it mattered and called the Four Hills “a marathon,” but admitted that Prevc “doesn’t make mistakes; he nails jump after jump. We almost have to wait for him to make a mistake.”
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Hoffmann said his podium “will give me a boost for Garmisch” and that “apart from Domen, everything is very close.”
Tschofenig and triple Four Hills winner Ryoyu Kobayashi, in sixth place, are separated by just 4.2 points.
Prevc remained modest amidst all the praise after taking a first step to emulate his older brother Peter Prevc (2016) and Primoz Peterka (1997) as winners of the Four Hills of Slovenia.
“Things may look or seem very easy, but on the other hand, a thousand thoughts run through my head. I just stay focused,” he said.