Janne Ahonen

Janne Petteri Ahonen (pronounced [ˈjɑnːe ˈpetːeri ˈɑhonen] ⓘ; born 11 May 1977)[1] is a Finnish former ski jumper and drag racer. He competed in ski jumping between 1992 and 2018, and is one of the sport's most successful athletes of all time, as well as one of the most successful from Finland. Ahonen won two consecutive World Cup overall titles (the most recent ski jumper to do so, as of 2023), the Four Hills Tournament a record five times, two individual gold medals at the World Championships, and the Nordic Tournament once. Nicknamed Kuningaskotka ("King Eagle"), he has been described as the greatest ski jumper to have never won an individual medal at the Winter Olympics.[2]

Janne Ahonen
Ahonen in Oslo, 2011
CountryFinland
Full nameJanne Petteri Ahonen
Born (1977-05-11) 11 May 1977
Lahti, Finland
Ski clubLahden Hiihtoseura
Personal best233.5 m (766 ft)
Planica, 20 March 2005
World Cup career
Seasons
Individual wins36
Team wins10
Indiv. podiums108
Team podiums25
Indiv. starts412
Team starts47
Overall titles2 (2004, 2005)
Four Hills titles5 (1999, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008)
Nordic titles1 (2000)
JP titles1 (1999)
Medal record
Men's ski jumping
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 0 2 0
World Championships 5 3 2
Ski Flying World Championships 0 5 2
Total 5 10 4
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2002 Salt Lake City Team LH
Silver medal – second place 2006 Turin Team LH
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1995 Thunder Bay Team LH
Gold medal – first place 1997 Trondheim Individual NH
Gold medal – first place 1997 Trondheim Team LH
Gold medal – first place 2003 Val di Fiemme Team LH
Gold medal – first place 2005 Oberstdorf Individual LH
Silver medal – second place 2001 Lahti Team LH
Silver medal – second place 2001 Lahti Team NH
Silver medal – second place 2005 Oberstdorf Team LH
Bronze medal – third place 2001 Lahti Individual LH
Bronze medal – third place 2005 Oberstdorf Individual NH
Men's ski flying
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 1996 Bad Mitterndorf Individual
Silver medal – second place 2004 Planica Individual
Silver medal – second place 2004 Planica Team
Silver medal – second place 2006 Bad Mitterndorf Team
Silver medal – second place 2008 Oberstdorf Team
Bronze medal – third place 2000 Vikersund Individual
Bronze medal – third place 2008 Oberstdorf Individual

Career

Ahonen's most notable achievements include five World Championships (normal hill in 1997; large hill in 2005; team large hill in 1995, 1997 and 2003), two World Cup overall titles (2003/04 and 2004/05) and a record-breaking five victories in the Four Hills Tournament (1998/99, 2002/03, 2004/05, 2005/06 and 2007/08). He is the all-time leader in World Cup points, podiums (133) and top 10 appearances (245). With 36 World Cup victories, Ahonen has the fourth-most behind Gregor Schlierenzauer, Matti Nykänen and Adam Małysz. In 2005, Ahonen was named the Finnish Sports Personality of the Year.

Over the course of nine World Ski Jumping Championships, nine Ski Flying World Championships and seven Winter Olympics, Ahonen has won a total of 19 medals, equalling the medal count of Matti Nykänen–although most of Ahonen's are in team, rather than individual events. Despite his successes, Ahonen has never won an individual Olympic medal, placing fourth three times. In Olympic team competitions, he has won two silver medals. His seven Olympic Games rank him second in terms of number of Olympic participations among ski jumpers, behind Noriaki Kasai.[2]

Ahonen announced his retirement from ski jumping on 28 March 2008, with a farewell competition held in Lahti on 9 July 2008. After a season's absence, he returned for two more seasons in 2009/10 and 2010/11. The best achievement of his revived career was a second place in the 2009/10 Four Hills Tournament.

During his ski jumping career, Ahonen has been known for his apparent lack of emotion and is rarely seen smiling even on the podium. When asked for a reason, he responded with "We came here to jump and not to smile." In Finnish interviews Ahonen often made sarcastic comments with dry humour. The German press nicknamed Ahonen "Der Mann mit der Maske" ("The Man with the Mask"),[3] in reference to the distinctive plastic masks he wore in competitions from 1996 until 2002.[4][5] In Finland, Ahonen is often called "Kuningaskotka" ("King Eagle").

On 10 January 2013, Ahonen announced that he would come out of retirement for a second time, with the aim of winning a medal in an individual event at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.[6] He went on to finish 29th on the normal hill and 22nd on the large hill. Ahonen also was a member of the Finnish ski jumping team at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, where he placed 27th and 40th in the individual competitions and was part of the Finnish team that finished eighth in the team competition.[2]

In October 2018 Ahonen announced his retirement from competitive jumping for a third time, stating "I will never quit ski jumping – I will continue to jump when I feel like it – but I can confirm that I will not take part in any competitions anymore".[2]

Olympic games

Standings
Event Normal hill Large hill Team
Norway 1994 Lillehammer 37th 25th 5th
Japan 1998 Nagano 4th 37th 5th
United States 2002 Salt Lake City 4th 9th Silver
Italy 2006 Turin 6th 9th Silver
Canada 2010 Vancouver 4th 31st 4th
Russia 2014 Sochi 29th 22nd 8th
South Korea 2018 Pyeongchang 40th 28th 8th

World Cup

Standings
Season Overall 4H SF RA W5 P7 NT JP
1992–93 5046—N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
1993–94 101612N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
1994–95 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)3rd place, bronze medalist(s)5N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
1995–96 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)62nd place, silver medalist(s)N/AN/AN/AN/A5
1996–97 8187N/AN/AN/A49
1997–98 93rd place, bronze medalist(s)11N/AN/AN/A98
1998–99 2nd place, silver medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)6N/AN/AN/A151st place, gold medalist(s)
1999–00 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)N/AN/AN/A1st place, gold medalist(s)3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
2000–01 52nd place, silver medalist(s)6N/AN/AN/A36N/A
2001–02 1526N/AN/AN/AN/A6N/A
2002–03 41st place, gold medalist(s)N/AN/AN/AN/A13N/A
2003–04 1st place, gold medalist(s)5N/AN/AN/AN/A4N/A
2004–05 1st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)N/AN/AN/AN/A5N/A
2005–06 2nd place, silver medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)N/AN/AN/AN/A24N/A
2006–07 88N/AN/AN/AN/A4N/A
2007–08 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)N/AN/AN/AN/A4N/A
2009–10 112nd place, silver medalist(s)10N/AN/AN/A51N/A
2010–11 4424—N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
2013–14 3123—N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
2014–15 58—46N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
2015–16 ———N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
2016–17 50—3674N/AN/AN/AN/A
2017–18 ——————N/AN/A

Wins
No. Season Date Location Hill Size
1 1993–9419 December 1993  Switzerland EngelbergGross-Titlis-Schanze K120LH
2 1994–951 January 1995  Germany Garmisch-PartenkirchenGroße Olympiaschanze K107LH
3 1995–963 December 1995  Norway LillehammerLysgårdsbakken K120LH
4 10 February 1996  Austria Tauplitz/Bad MitterndorfKulm K185FH
5 1997–987 March 1998  Finland LahtiSalpausselkä K114LH
6 1998–996 December 1998  France ChamonixLe Mont K95NH
7 19 December 1998  Czech Republic HarrachovČerťák K120LH
8 20 December 1998  Czech Republic HarrachovČerťák K120LH
9 9 January 1999  Switzerland EngelbergGross-Titlis-Schanze K120LH
10 17 January 1999  Poland ZakopaneWielka Krokiew K116LH
11 7 February 1999  Czech Republic HarrachovČerťák K120LH
12 1999–0012 December 1999  Austria VillachVillacher Alpenarena K90NH
13 4 December 2000  Finland LahtiSalpausselkä K90NH
14 2002–0321 December 2002  Switzerland EngelbergGross-Titlis-Schanze K125LH
15 4 January 2003  Austria InnsbruckBergiselschanze K120LH
16 2003–0410 January 2004  Czech Republic LiberecJeštěd A K120LH
17 11 January 2004  Czech Republic LiberecJeštěd A K120LH
18 14 February 2004  Germany WillingenMühlenkopfschanze K130LH
19 2004–0527 November 2004  Finland KuusamoRukatunturi HS142LH
20 28 November 2004  Finland KuusamoRukatunturi HS142LH
21 4 December 2004  Norway TrondheimGranåsen HS131LH
22 5 December 2004  Norway TrondheimGranåsen HS131LH
23 12 December 2004  Czech Republic HarrachovČerťák HS142LH
24 18 December 2004  Switzerland EngelbergGross-Titlis-Schanze HS137LH
25 19 December 2004  Switzerland EngelbergGross-Titlis-Schanze HS137LH
26 29 December 2004  Germany OberstdorfSchattenbergschanze HS137LH
27 1 January 2005  Germany Garmisch-PartenkirchenGroße Olympiaschanze HS125LH
28 3 January 2005  Austria InnsbruckBergiselschanze HS130LH
29 9 January 2005  Germany WillingenMühlenkopfschanze HS145LH
30 22 January 2005  Germany Titisee-NeustadtHochfirstschanze HS142LH
31 2005–0629 December 2005  Germany OberstdorfSchattenbergschanze HS137LH
32 6 January 2006  Austria BischofshofenPaul-Ausserleitner-Schanze HS140LH
33 2007–085 January 2008  Austria BischofshofenPaul-Ausserleitner-Schanze HS140LH
34 6 January 2008  Austria BischofshofenPaul-Ausserleitner-Schanze HS140LH
35 20 January 2008  Czech Republic HarrachovČerťák HS205FH
36 4 March 2008  Finland KuopioPuijo HS127LH

Drag racing

Ahonen competes with his Ahonen Racing Team - ART[7] in drag racing, winning the Finnish and Nordic Championships. His best performance in Top Fuel is 4.044 sec. 476.19 km/h in 2012.[8]

Personal life

Ahonen is married to Tiia Ahonen, with whom he has two sons born in 2001 and 2008.

References
  1. "Janne AHONEN".
  2. Zaccardi, Nick (27 October 2018). "Janne Ahonen, ski jumping great, retires for third time". NBCSports.com. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
  3. Zeilmann, Kathrin (2003-01-06). "Der Mann mit der Maske" (in German). Hamburger Abendblatt. Funke-Mediengruppe. Retrieved 2015-12-25.
  4. "For Janne – by Niillas Holmberg". olympiastadion.no. 2013-12-29. Retrieved 2015-12-25.
  5. Petr (2008-04-03). "Janne Ahonen a jeho skokanská kariéra" (in Czech). skoky.net. Retrieved 2015-12-25.
  6. "Janne Ahonen, Finland's comeback kid renews Olympic quest". olympic.org. 2014-01-12. Retrieved 2015-05-17.
  7. https://www.facebook.com/Moottoriurheilu/
  8. "Janne Ahonen on European Drag Racing Database".

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