Contents

Janne Ahonen

Finnish ski jumper and drag racer (born 1977)

Janne Ahonen
Ahonen in Oslo, 2011
Country	Finland
Full name	Janne Petteri Ahonen
Born	(1977-05-11) 11 May 1977 (age 47) 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
Starts	412
Podiums	108
Wins	36
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 2002 Salt Lake City Team LH 2006 Turin Team LH World Championships 1995 Thunder Bay Team LH 1997 Trondheim Individual NH 1997 Trondheim Team LH 2003 Val di Fiemme Team LH 2005 Oberstdorf Individual LH 2001 Lahti Team LH 2001 Lahti Team NH 2005 Oberstdorf Team LH 2001 Lahti Individual LH 2005 Oberstdorf Individual NH Men's ski flying World Championships 1996 Bad Mitterndorf Individual 2004 Planica Individual 2004 Planica Team 2006 Bad Mitterndorf Team 2008 Oberstdorf Team 2000 Vikersund Individual 2008 Oberstdorf Individual

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]

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 OlympicsinSochi.^[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 OlympicsinPyeongChang, 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]

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

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

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

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

Ahonen is married to Tiia Ahonen, with whom he has two sons born in 2001 and 2008. His older son Mico is also a ski jumper.^[9]

Media related to Janne Ahonen at Wikimedia Commons

• Janne Ahonen at the International Ski and Snowboard Federation

Olympic Games
Preceded by Marja-Liisa Kirvesniemi	Flagbearer for  Finland Nagano 1998	Succeeded by Toni Nieminen
Preceded by Enni Rukajärvi	Flagbearer for  Finland PyeongChang 2018	Succeeded by Valtteri Filppula