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Janne Ahonen

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Janne Ahonen
Ahonen in Oslo, 2011
CountryFinland
Full nameJanne Petteri Ahonen
Born (1977-05-11) 11 May 1977 (age 47)
Lahti, Finland
Ski clubLahden Hiihtoseura
Personal best233.5 m (766 ft)
Planica, 20 March 2005
World Cup career
Seasons
Indiv. starts412
Indiv. podiums108
Indiv. wins36
Team starts47
Team podiums25
Team wins10
Overall titles2 (2004, 2005)
Four Hills titles5 (1999, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008)
Nordic titles1 (2000)
JP titles1 (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 medal – second place 2002 Salt Lake City Team LH
Silver medal – second place 2006 Turin Team LH
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1995 Thunder Bay Team LH
Gold medal – first place 1997 Trondheim Individual NH
Gold medal – first place 1997 Trondheim Team LH
Gold medal – first place 2003 Val di Fiemme Team LH
Gold medal – first place 2005 Oberstdorf Individual LH
Silver medal – second place 2001 Lahti Team LH
Silver medal – second place 2001 Lahti Team NH
Silver medal – second place 2005 Oberstdorf Team LH
Bronze medal – third place 2001 Lahti Individual LH
Bronze medal – third place 2005 Oberstdorf Individual NH
Men's ski flying
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 1996 Bad Mitterndorf Individual
Silver medal – second place 2004 Planica Individual
Silver medal – second place 2004 Planica Team
Silver medal – second place 2006 Bad Mitterndorf Team
Silver medal – second place 2008 Oberstdorf Team
Bronze medal – third place 2000 Vikersund Individual
Bronze medal – third place 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]

Career

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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 Olympics in Sochi.[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 Olympics in PyeongChang, 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]

Olympic games

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Standings

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Janne Ahonen at 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 4th
Russia 2014 Sochi 36 29th 22nd 8th
South Korea 2018 Pyeongchang 40 40th 28th 8th

World Cup

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Standings

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 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 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 5 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
1995–96 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 6 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 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 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 11 N/A N/A N/A 9 8
1998–99 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 6 N/A N/A N/A 15 1st place, gold medalist(s)
1999–00 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s) N/A N/A N/A 1st place, gold medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
2000–01 5 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 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 1st place, gold medalist(s) N/A N/A N/A N/A 13 N/A
2003–04 1st place, gold medalist(s) 5 N/A N/A N/A N/A 4 N/A
2004–05 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) N/A N/A N/A N/A 5 N/A
2005–06 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 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 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) N/A N/A N/A N/A 4 N/A
2009–10 11 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 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

Wins

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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

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

Personal life

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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]

References

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  1. ^ "Janne AHONEN".
  2. ^ a b c d Zaccardi, Nick (27 October 2018). "Janne Ahonen, ski jumping great, retires for third time". NBCSports.com. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
  3. ^ Zeilmann, Kathrin (2003-01-06). "Der Mann mit der Maske" (in German). Hamburger Abendblatt. Funke-Mediengruppe. Retrieved 2015-12-25.
  4. ^ "For Janne – by Niillas Holmberg"[permanent dead link‍]. olympiastadion.no. 2013-12-29. Retrieved 2015-12-25.
  5. ^ Petr (2008-04-03). "Janne Ahonen a jeho skokanská kariéra" (in Czech). skoky.net. Retrieved 2015-12-25.
  6. ^ "Janne Ahonen, Finland's comeback kid renews Olympic quest". olympic.org. 2014-01-12. Retrieved 2015-05-17.
  7. ^ https://www.facebook.com/Moottoriurheilu/ [user-generated source]
  8. ^ "Janne Ahonen on European Drag Racing Database".
  9. ^ Mico Ahonen at the International Ski and Snowboard Federation. Retrieved 2024-01-21
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Media related to Janne Ahonen at Wikimedia Commons

Olympic Games
Preceded by Flagbearer for  Finland
Nagano 1998 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Flagbearer for  Finland
PyeongChang 2018 		Succeeded by
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