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Janne Ahonen
Janne Ahonen Oslo 2011 (team, normal hill) 1.jpg
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 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.

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.

Janne Ahonen at 2010 Winter Olympics (2)
Janne Ahonen at the 2010 Winter Olympics
Event Age Normal hill Large hill Team
Norway 1994 Lillehammer 16 37th 25th 5th
Japan 1998 Nagano 20 4th 37th 5th
United States 2002 Salt Lake City 24 4th 9th Silver
Italy 2006 Turin 28 6th 9th Silver
Canada 2010 Vancouver 32 4th 31st
Russia 2014 Sochi 36 29th 22nd 8th
South Korea 2018 Pyeongchang 40 40th 28th 8th

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
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 3 3 5 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
1995–96 3 6 2 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 3 11 N/A N/A N/A 9 8
1998–99 2 1 6 N/A N/A N/A 15 1
1999–00 3 2 2 N/A N/A N/A 1 3
2000–01 5 2 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 1 N/A N/A N/A N/A 13 N/A
2003–04 1 5 N/A N/A N/A N/A 4 N/A
2004–05 1 1 N/A N/A N/A N/A 5 N/A
2005–06 2 1 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 3 1 N/A N/A N/A N/A 4 N/A
2009–10 11 2 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
1 1993–94 19 December 1993   Switzerland Engelberg Gross-Titlis-Schanze K120 LH
2 1994–95 1 January 1995   Germany Garmisch-Partenkirchen Große Olympiaschanze K107 LH
3 1995–96 3 December 1995   Norway Lillehammer Lysgårdsbakken K120 LH
4 10 February 1996   Austria Tauplitz/Bad Mitterndorf Kulm K185 FH
5 1997–98 7 March 1998   Finland Lahti Salpausselkä K114 LH
6 1998–99 6 December 1998   France Chamonix Le Mont K95 NH
7 19 December 1998   Czech Republic Harrachov Čerťák K120 LH
8 20 December 1998   Czech Republic Harrachov Čerťák K120 LH
9 9 January 1999   Switzerland Engelberg Gross-Titlis-Schanze K120 LH
10 17 January 1999   Poland Zakopane Wielka Krokiew K116 LH
11 7 February 1999   Czech Republic Harrachov Čerťák K120 LH
12 1999–00 12 December 1999   Austria Villach Villacher Alpenarena K90 NH
13 4 December 2000   Finland Lahti Salpausselkä K90 NH
14 2002–03 21 December 2002   Switzerland Engelberg Gross-Titlis-Schanze K125 LH
15 4 January 2003   Austria Innsbruck Bergiselschanze K120 LH
16 2003–04 10 January 2004   Czech Republic Liberec Ještěd A K120 LH
17 11 January 2004   Czech Republic Liberec Ještěd A K120 LH
18 14 February 2004   Germany Willingen Mühlenkopfschanze K130 LH
19 2004–05 27 November 2004   Finland Kuusamo Rukatunturi HS142 LH
20 28 November 2004   Finland Kuusamo Rukatunturi HS142 LH
21 4 December 2004   Norway Trondheim Granåsen HS131 LH
22 5 December 2004   Norway Trondheim Granåsen HS131 LH
23 12 December 2004   Czech Republic Harrachov Čerťák HS142 LH
24 18 December 2004   Switzerland Engelberg Gross-Titlis-Schanze HS137 LH
25 19 December 2004   Switzerland Engelberg Gross-Titlis-Schanze HS137 LH
26 29 December 2004   Germany Oberstdorf Schattenbergschanze HS137 LH
27 1 January 2005   Germany Garmisch-Partenkirchen Große Olympiaschanze HS125 LH
28 3 January 2005   Austria Innsbruck Bergiselschanze HS130 LH
29 9 January 2005   Germany Willingen Mühlenkopfschanze HS145 LH
30 22 January 2005   Germany Titisee-Neustadt Hochfirstschanze HS142 LH
31 2005–06 29 December 2005   Germany Oberstdorf Schattenbergschanze HS137 LH
32 6 January 2006   Austria Bischofshofen Paul-Ausserleitner-Schanze HS140 LH
33 2007–08 5 January 2008   Austria Bischofshofen Paul-Ausserleitner-Schanze HS140 LH
34 6 January 2008   Austria Bischofshofen Paul-Ausserleitner-Schanze HS140 LH
35 20 January 2008   Czech Republic Harrachov Čerťák HS205 FH
36 4 March 2008   Finland Kuopio 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

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Janne Ahonen para niños

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