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 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 the 2010 Winter Olympics

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

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

In Spanish: Janne Ahonen para niños