Janne Ahonen

Janne Petteri Ahonen ({{#invoke:IPA|main}}; born 11 May 1977)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref name=retire2018>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Career

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.<ref name=retire2018 />

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"),<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> in reference to the distinctive plastic masks he wore in competitions from 1996 until 2002.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref name=retire2018 />

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".<ref name=retire2018 />

After the controversies at the world championships in 2025 Ahonen confessed, that he also had used oversized illegal jumping suits during his active career.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Olympic games

Standings

File:Janne Ahonen at 2010 Winter Olympics (2).jpg

Janne Ahonen at 2010 Winter Olympics

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

World Cup

Standings

Season	Overall	Template:Abbr	Template:Abbr	Template:Abbr	Template:Abbr	Template:Abbr	Template:Abbr	Template:Abbr
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	Template:Bronze03	Template:Bronze03	5	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
1995–96	Template:Bronze03	6	Template:Silver02	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	Template:Bronze03	11	N/A	N/A	N/A	9	8
1998–99	Template:Silver02	Template:Gold01	6	N/A	N/A	N/A	15	Template:Gold01
1999–00	Template:Bronze03	Template:Silver02	Template:Silver02	N/A	N/A	N/A	Template:Gold01	Template:Bronze03
2000–01	5	Template:Silver02	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	Template:Gold01	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	13	N/A
2003–04	Template:Gold01	5	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	4	N/A
2004–05	Template:Gold01	Template:Gold01	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	5	N/A
2005–06	Template:Silver02	Template:Gold01	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	Template:Bronze03	Template:Gold01	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	4	N/A
2009–10	11	Template:Silver02	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

No.	Season	Date	Location	Hill	Size
1	1993–94	19 December 1993	Template:Flagicon Engelberg	Gross-Titlis-Schanze K120	Template:Abbr
2	1994–95	1 January 1995	Template:Flagicon Garmisch-Partenkirchen	Große Olympiaschanze K107	LH
3	1995–96	3 December 1995	Template:Flagicon Lillehammer	Lysgårdsbakken K120	LH
4		10 February 1996	Template:Flagicon Tauplitz/Bad Mitterndorf	Kulm K185	Template:Abbr
5	1997–98	7 March 1998	Template:Flagicon Lahti	Salpausselkä K114	LH
6	1998–99	6 December 1998	Template:Flagicon Chamonix	Le Mont K95	Template:Abbr
7		19 December 1998	Template:Flagicon Harrachov	Čerťák K120	LH
8		20 December 1998	Template:Flagicon Harrachov	Čerťák K120	LH
9		9 January 1999	Template:Flagicon Engelberg	Gross-Titlis-Schanze K120	LH
10		17 January 1999	Template:Flagicon Zakopane	Wielka Krokiew K116	LH
11		7 February 1999	Template:Flagicon Harrachov	Čerťák K120	LH
12	1999–00	12 December 1999	Template:Flagicon Villach	Villacher Alpenarena K90	NH
13		4 December 2000	Template:Flagicon Lahti	Salpausselkä K90	NH
14	2002–03	21 December 2002	Template:Flagicon Engelberg	Gross-Titlis-Schanze K125	LH
15		4 January 2003	Template:Flagicon Innsbruck	Bergiselschanze K120	LH
16	2003–04	10 January 2004	Template:Flagicon Liberec	Ještěd A K120	LH
17		11 January 2004	Template:Flagicon Liberec	Ještěd A K120	LH
18		14 February 2004	Template:Flagicon Willingen	Mühlenkopfschanze K130	LH
19	2004–05	27 November 2004	Template:Flagicon Kuusamo	Rukatunturi HS142	LH
20		28 November 2004	Template:Flagicon Kuusamo	Rukatunturi HS142	LH
21		4 December 2004	Template:Flagicon Trondheim	Granåsen HS131	LH
22		5 December 2004	Template:Flagicon Trondheim	Granåsen HS131	LH
23		12 December 2004	Template:Flagicon Harrachov	Čerťák HS142	LH
24		18 December 2004	Template:Flagicon Engelberg	Gross-Titlis-Schanze HS137	LH
25		19 December 2004	Template:Flagicon Engelberg	Gross-Titlis-Schanze HS137	LH
26		29 December 2004	Template:Flagicon Oberstdorf	Schattenbergschanze HS137	LH
27		1 January 2005	Template:Flagicon Garmisch-Partenkirchen	Große Olympiaschanze HS125	LH
28		3 January 2005	Template:Flagicon Innsbruck	Bergiselschanze HS130	LH
29		9 January 2005	Template:Flagicon Willingen	Mühlenkopfschanze HS145	LH
30		22 January 2005	Template:Flagicon Titisee-Neustadt	Hochfirstschanze HS142	LH
31	2005–06	29 December 2005	Template:Flagicon Oberstdorf	Schattenbergschanze HS137	LH
32		6 January 2006	Template:Flagicon Bischofshofen	Paul-Ausserleitner-Schanze HS140	LH
33	2007–08	5 January 2008	Template:Flagicon Bischofshofen	Paul-Ausserleitner-Schanze HS140	LH
34		6 January 2008	Template:Flagicon Bischofshofen	Paul-Ausserleitner-Schanze HS140	LH
35		20 January 2008	Template:Flagicon Harrachov	Čerťák HS205	FH
36		4 March 2008	Template:Flagicon Kuopio	Puijo HS127	LH

Drag racing

Ahonen competes with his Ahonen Racing Team - ART<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:User-generated source</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Personal life

Ahonen was married to Tiia Ahonen, with whom he has two sons born in 2001 and 2008. His older son Mico is also a ski jumper.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The couple parted in 2025.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Autobiography

In 2009 the first edition of Ahonen's autobiography Kuningaskotka was published.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The book was written in company wth the journalist Pekka Holopainen. Ahonen reported about his childhood, jumping career and family life, but also about alcohol excesses and the radical diets in ski jumping.

Bibliography

• Kuningaskotka (with Pekka Holopainen), 2009, ISBN 978-951-851-225-0

External links

• Template:FIS ski jumper
• Template:Olympics.com
• Template:Olympedia