Janne Ahonen facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Janne Ahonen |
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![]() Ahonen in Oslo, 2011
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Country | Finland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Full name | Janne Petteri Ahonen | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Lahti, Finland |
11 May 1977 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ski club | Lahden Hiihtoseura | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal best | 233.5 m (766 ft) Planica, 20 March 2005 |
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World Cup career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Seasons |
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Individual wins | 36 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Team wins | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indiv. podiums | 108 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Team podiums | 25 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indiv. starts | 412 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Team starts | 47 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Overall titles | 2 (2004, 2005) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Four Hills titles | 5 (1999, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nordic titles | 1 (2000) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
JP titles | 1 (1999) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Janne Petteri Ahonen is a famous Finnish former ski jumper and drag racer. He was born on May 11, 1977. Janne competed in ski jumping for many years, from 1992 to 2018. He is known as one of the most successful ski jumpers ever, especially from Finland.
Janne Ahonen won the overall title in the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup two times in a row. He also won the Four Hills Tournament a record five times. He earned two individual gold medals at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships. He also won the Nordic Tournament once. People often called him Kuningaskotka, which means "King Eagle." He is considered a great ski jumper, even though he never won an individual medal at the Winter Olympics.
Contents
Janne Ahonen's Ski Jumping Career
Janne Ahonen achieved many great things in his ski jumping career. He won five FIS Nordic World Ski Championships titles. These included individual wins on the normal hill in 1997 and the large hill in 2005. He also won team large hill events in 1995, 1997, and 2003.
He won the overall FIS Ski Jumping World Cup title twice. These wins were in the 2003–04 and 2004–05 seasons. Janne also holds the record for five victories in the Four Hills Tournament. He won this event in 1998–99, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2005–06, and 2007–08.
Janne Ahonen has the most World Cup points of any ski jumper. He also has the most podium finishes, with 133. He appeared in the top 10 an amazing 245 times. With 36 World Cup wins, he is fourth all-time. In 2005, he was named the Finnish Sports Personality of the Year.
Olympic and World Championship Medals
Janne Ahonen competed in nine World Ski Jumping Championships. He also took part in nine FIS Ski Flying World Championships and seven Winter Olympic Games. Overall, he won 19 medals, which is the same number as another famous ski jumper, Matti Nykänen. Most of Janne's medals were in team events.
Even with all his success, Janne never won an individual Olympic medal. He finished fourth three times in individual Olympic events. However, he did win two silver medals in Olympic team competitions. He competed in seven Olympic Games, which is the second-highest number for a ski jumper. Only Noriaki Kasai has competed in more.
Retirement and Comebacks
Janne Ahonen first announced he was retiring from ski jumping on March 28, 2008. A special farewell competition was held for him in Lahti on July 9, 2008.
After taking a season off, he decided to return for two more seasons. These were in 2009–10 and 2010–11. His best result during this comeback was finishing second in the 2009–10 Four Hills Tournament.
On January 10, 2013, Janne announced he would come out of retirement again. His goal was to win an individual medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. He finished 29th on the normal hill and 22nd on the large hill. Janne also joined the Finnish ski jumping team at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. There, he placed 27th and 40th in individual events. His team finished eighth in the team competition.
In October 2018, Janne Ahonen announced his retirement from competitive jumping for a third time. He said he would still jump for fun but would not compete anymore.
Janne's Calm Style
During his career, Janne Ahonen was known for his calm and serious approach. He was rarely seen smiling, even when he won. When asked why, he famously said, "We came here to jump and not to smile." In interviews, he often used dry humor. The German press called him "Der Mann mit der Maske" ("The Man with the Mask"). This was because of the special plastic masks he wore from 1996 to 2002. In Finland, he was often called "Kuningaskotka" ("King Eagle").
Olympic Games Standings
Here is a table showing Janne Ahonen's results at the Winter Olympic Games.
World Cup Standings
This table shows Janne Ahonen's overall rankings in the Ski Jumping World Cup and other major tournaments over the years.
Season | Overall | 4H | SF | RA | W5 | P7 | NT | JP |
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1992–93 | 50 | 46 | — | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
1993–94 | 10 | 16 | 12 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
1994–95 | ![]() |
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5 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
1995–96 | ![]() |
6 | ![]() |
N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 5 |
1996–97 | 8 | 18 | 7 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 4 | 9 |
1997–98 | 9 | ![]() |
11 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 9 | 8 |
1998–99 | ![]() |
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6 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 15 | ![]() |
1999–00 | ![]() |
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N/A | N/A | N/A | ![]() |
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2000–01 | 5 | ![]() |
6 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 36 | N/A |
2001–02 | 15 | 26 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 6 | N/A |
2002–03 | 4 | ![]() |
N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 13 | N/A |
2003–04 | ![]() |
5 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 4 | N/A |
2004–05 | ![]() |
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N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 5 | N/A |
2005–06 | ![]() |
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N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 24 | N/A |
2006–07 | 8 | 8 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 4 | N/A |
2007–08 | ![]() |
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N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 4 | N/A |
2009–10 | 11 | ![]() |
10 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 51 | N/A |
2010–11 | 44 | 24 | — | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
2013–14 | 31 | 23 | — | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
2014–15 | 58 | — | 46 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
2015–16 | — | — | — | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
2016–17 | 50 | — | 36 | 74 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
2017–18 | — | — | — | — | — | — | N/A | N/A |
World Cup Wins
Janne Ahonen won 36 World Cup events during his career. Here is a list of his victories.
No. | Season | Date | Location | Hill | Size |
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1 | 1993–94 | 19 December 1993 | ![]() |
Gross-Titlis-Schanze K120 | LH |
2 | 1994–95 | 1 January 1995 | ![]() |
Große Olympiaschanze K107 | LH |
3 | 1995–96 | 3 December 1995 | ![]() |
Lysgårdsbakken K120 | LH |
4 | 10 February 1996 | ![]() |
Kulm K185 | FH | |
5 | 1997–98 | 7 March 1998 | ![]() |
Salpausselkä K114 | LH |
6 | 1998–99 | 6 December 1998 | ![]() |
Le Mont K95 | NH |
7 | 19 December 1998 | ![]() |
Čerťák K120 | LH | |
8 | 20 December 1998 | ![]() |
Čerťák K120 | LH | |
9 | 9 January 1999 | ![]() |
Gross-Titlis-Schanze K120 | LH | |
10 | 17 January 1999 | ![]() |
Wielka Krokiew K116 | LH | |
11 | 7 February 1999 | ![]() |
Čerťák K120 | LH | |
12 | 1999–00 | 12 December 1999 | ![]() |
Villacher Alpenarena K90 | NH |
13 | 4 December 2000 | ![]() |
Salpausselkä K90 | NH | |
14 | 2002–03 | 21 December 2002 | ![]() |
Gross-Titlis-Schanze K125 | LH |
15 | 4 January 2003 | ![]() |
Bergiselschanze K120 | LH | |
16 | 2003–04 | 10 January 2004 | ![]() |
Ještěd A K120 | LH |
17 | 11 January 2004 | ![]() |
Ještěd A K120 | LH | |
18 | 14 February 2004 | ![]() |
Mühlenkopfschanze K130 | LH | |
19 | 2004–05 | 27 November 2004 | ![]() |
Rukatunturi HS142 | LH |
20 | 28 November 2004 | ![]() |
Rukatunturi HS142 | LH | |
21 | 4 December 2004 | ![]() |
Granåsen HS131 | LH | |
22 | 5 December 2004 | ![]() |
Granåsen HS131 | LH | |
23 | 12 December 2004 | ![]() |
Čerťák HS142 | LH | |
24 | 18 December 2004 | ![]() |
Gross-Titlis-Schanze HS137 | LH | |
25 | 19 December 2004 | ![]() |
Gross-Titlis-Schanze HS137 | LH | |
26 | 29 December 2004 | ![]() |
Schattenbergschanze HS137 | LH | |
27 | 1 January 2005 | ![]() |
Große Olympiaschanze HS125 | LH | |
28 | 3 January 2005 | ![]() |
Bergiselschanze HS130 | LH | |
29 | 9 January 2005 | ![]() |
Mühlenkopfschanze HS145 | LH | |
30 | 22 January 2005 | ![]() |
Hochfirstschanze HS142 | LH | |
31 | 2005–06 | 29 December 2005 | ![]() |
Schattenbergschanze HS137 | LH |
32 | 6 January 2006 | ![]() |
Paul-Ausserleitner-Schanze HS140 | LH | |
33 | 2007–08 | 5 January 2008 | ![]() |
Paul-Ausserleitner-Schanze HS140 | LH |
34 | 6 January 2008 | ![]() |
Paul-Ausserleitner-Schanze HS140 | LH | |
35 | 20 January 2008 | ![]() |
Čerťák HS205 | FH | |
36 | 4 March 2008 | ![]() |
Puijo HS127 | LH |
Drag Racing Career
Besides ski jumping, Janne Ahonen also competes in drag racing. He races with his team, Ahonen Racing Team - ART. He has won both the Finnish and Nordic Championships in drag racing. His fastest speed in Top Fuel racing was 476.19 kilometers per hour (about 296 miles per hour) in 2012.
Personal Life
Janne Ahonen was married to Tiia Ahonen. They have two sons, born in 2001 and 2008. His older son, Mico, is also a ski jumper, following in his father's footsteps. Janne and Tiia separated in 2025.
Autobiography
In 2009, Janne Ahonen's autobiography, Kuningaskotka, was published. The book was written with the help of journalist Pekka Holopainen. In the book, Janne shared stories about his childhood, his ski jumping career, and his family life.
See also
In Spanish: Janne Ahonen para niños