Janne Ahonen facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Janne Ahonen
Ahonen in Oslo, 2011
Country	Finland
Full name	Janne Petteri Ahonen
Born	(1977-05-11) 11 May 1977 (age 48) Lahti, Finland
Ski club	Lahden Hiihtoseura
Personal best	233.5 m (766 ft) Planica, 20 March 2005
World Cup career
Seasons	1993–2008 2010–2011 2013–2018
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 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 2002 Salt Lake City Team LH Silver 2006 Turin Team LH World Championships Gold 1995 Thunder Bay Team LH Gold 1997 Trondheim Individual NH Gold 1997 Trondheim Team LH Gold 2003 Val di Fiemme Team LH Gold 2005 Oberstdorf Individual LH Silver 2001 Lahti Team LH Silver 2001 Lahti Team NH Silver 2005 Oberstdorf Team LH Bronze 2001 Lahti Individual LH Bronze 2005 Oberstdorf Individual NH Men's ski flying World Championships Silver 1996 Bad Mitterndorf Individual Silver 2004 Planica Individual Silver 2004 Planica Team Silver 2006 Bad Mitterndorf Team Silver 2008 Oberstdorf Team Bronze 2000 Vikersund Individual Bronze 2008 Oberstdorf Individual

Janne Petteri Ahonen (born 11 May 1977) is a famous Finnish former ski jumper. He also competed in drag racing. Janne was a ski jumper from 1992 to 2018. He is known as one of the most successful ski jumpers ever, especially from Finland.

Janne Ahonen won the World Cup overall title two times in a row. He is the last ski jumper to do this (as of 2023). He also won the Four Hills Tournament a record five times. He earned two individual gold medals at the World Championships. He also won the Nordic Tournament once. People called him Kuningaskotka, which means "King Eagle". Many say he is the greatest ski jumper who never won an individual medal at the Winter Olympics.

Janne Ahonen's Ski Jumping Career

Janne Ahonen has many great achievements in ski jumping. He won five World Championships. These wins include 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 World Cup overall title twice. These wins were in the 2003/04 and 2004/05 seasons. Janne also holds the record for five wins in the Four Hills Tournament. These wins were in 1998/99, 2002/03, 2004/05, 2005/06, and 2007/08.

Janne Ahonen has the most World Cup points of all time. He also has the most podium finishes (133). He finished in the top 10 a total of 245 times. With 36 World Cup victories, he is fourth all-time. Only Gregor Schlierenzauer, Matti Nykänen, and Adam Małysz have more wins. In 2005, Janne was named the Finnish Sports Personality of the Year.

Over his long career, Janne competed in many major events. He took part in nine World Ski Jumping Championships. He also competed in nine Ski Flying World Championships. He went to seven Winter Olympics. In total, he won 19 medals. This is the same number of medals as Matti Nykänen. However, most of Janne's medals were from team events.

Even with all his success, Janne Ahonen never won an individual Olympic medal. He finished fourth three times in individual events. In Olympic team competitions, he won two silver medals. He has competed in seven Olympic Games. This makes him second among ski jumpers for the most Olympic appearances. Only Noriaki Kasai has competed in more.

Retirement and Comebacks

Janne Ahonen first announced he was retiring from ski jumping on 28 March 2008. A special farewell competition was held for him in Lahti on 9 July 2008.

After taking a season off, he decided to return for two more seasons. He competed again in 2009/10 and 2010/11. His best result during this comeback was finishing second in the 2009/10 Four Hills Tournament.

On 10 January 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 finished 27th and 40th in individual events. His team finished eighth in the team competition.

In October 2018, Janne Ahonen announced his retirement for a third time. He said, "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." This means he will still jump for fun, but not in official events.

Janne's Personality

During his ski jumping career, Janne Ahonen was known for not showing much emotion. He was rarely seen smiling, even when he won medals. When asked why, he famously said, "We came here to jump and not to smile." In interviews in Finland, he often made funny, sarcastic comments. 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 in competitions from 1996 to 2002. In Finland, people often called him "Kuningaskotka" ("King Eagle").

Olympic Games Results

Janne Ahonen at the 2010 Winter Olympics

Janne Ahonen competed in many Olympic Games. Here are his results:

Event	Age	Normal hill	Large hill	Team
1994 Lillehammer	16	37th	25th	5th
1998 Nagano	20	4th	37th	5th
2002 Salt Lake City	24	4th	9th	Silver
2006 Turin	28	6th	9th	Silver
2010 Vancouver	32	4th	31st	–
2014 Sochi	36	29th	22nd	8th
2018 Pyeongchang	40	40th	28th	8th

Drag Racing Career

Besides ski jumping, Janne Ahonen also competes in drag racing. He races with his team called Ahonen Racing Team - ART. He has won the Finnish and Nordic Championships in drag racing. His fastest speed in Top Fuel racing is 476.19 km/h (about 296 mph). He reached this speed in 2012.

Personal Life

Janne Ahonen is married to Tiia Ahonen. They have two sons. One was born in 2001 and the other in 2008. His older son, Mico, is also a ski jumper, following in his father's footsteps.