Janne Ahonen

Janne Ahonen
Ahonen in 2010
Country	Finland
Full name	Janne Petteri Ahonen
Born	(1977-05-11) 11 May 1977 Lahti, Finland
Height
Ski club	Lahden Hiihtoseura
Personal best	233.5 m (766 ft) Planica, 20 Mar 2005
World Cup career
Seasons	1993–2008 2010–2011 2014–present
Individual wins	36
Team wins	10
Indiv. podiums	108
Team podiums	25
Indiv. starts	398
Team starts	40
Overall titles	2 (2004, 2005)
Four Hills titles	5 (1999, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008)
Nordic titles	1 (2000)
NH/LH titles	1 (1999)
Medal record Men's ski jumping Olympic Games 2002 Salt Lake City Team LH 2006 Turin Team LH FIS Nordic World Ski 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 FIS 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
Updated on 14 Dec 2015.

Janne Petteri Ahonen (; born 11 May 1977) is a Finnish ski jumper.

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 five 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.

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"), in reference to the distinctive plastic masks he wore in competitions from 1996 until 2002. 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. He went on to finish 29th on the normal hill and 22nd on the large hill.

World Cup

Standings

Season	Overall	SF	JP	4H	NT
1992/93	50	–	N/A	46	N/A
1993/94	10	12	N/A	16	N/A
1994/95		5	N/A		N/A
1995/96			5	6	N/A
1996/97	8	7	9	18	4
1997/98	9	11	8		9
1998/99		6			15
1999/00
2000/01	5	6	N/A		36
2001/02	15	N/A	N/A	26	6
2002/03	4	N/A	N/A		13
2003/04		N/A	N/A	5	4
2004/05		N/A	N/A		5
2005/06		N/A	N/A		24
2006/07	8	N/A	N/A	8	4
2007/08		N/A	N/A		4
2009/10	11	10	N/A		51
2010/11	44	–	N/A	24	N/A
2013/14	31	–	N/A	23	N/A
2014/15	58	46	N/A	–	N/A
2015/16			N/A	–	N/A

Wins

No.	Season	Date	Location	Hill	Size
1	1993/94	19 Dec 1993	Engelberg	Gross-Titlis-Schanze K-120	LH
2	1994/95	1 Jan 1995	Garmisch-Partenkirchen	Große Olympiaschanze K-107	LH
3	1995/96	3 Dec 1995	Lillehammer	Lysgårdsbakken K-120	LH
4		10 Feb 1996	Tauplitz/Bad Mitterndorf	Kulm K-185	FH
5	1997/98	7 Mar 1998	Lahti	Salpausselkä K-114	LH
6	1998/99	6 Dec 1998	Chamonix	Le Mont K-95	NH
7		19 Dec 1998	Harrachov	Čerťák K-120	LH
8		20 Dec 1998	Harrachov	Čerťák K-120	LH
9		9 Jan 1999	Engelberg	Gross-Titlis-Schanze K-120	LH
10		17 Jan 1999	Zakopane	Wielka Krokiew K-116	LH
11		7 Feb 1999	Harrachov	Čerťák K-120	LH
12	1999/00	12 Dec 1999	Villach	Villacher Alpenarena K-90 (night)	NH
13		4 Dec 2000	Lahti	Salpausselkä K-90 (night)	NH
14	2002/03	21 Dec 2002	Engelberg	Gross-Titlis-Schanze K-125	LH
15		4 Jan 2003	Innsbruck	Bergiselschanze K-120	LH
16		10 Jan 2004	Liberec	Ještěd A K-120	LH
17		11 Jan 2004	Liberec	Ještěd A K-120	LH
18		14 Feb 2004	Willingen	Mühlenkopfschanze K-130	LH
19	2004/05	27 Nov 2004	Kuusamo	Rukatunturi HS 142 (night)	LH
20		28 Nov 2004	Kuusamo	Rukatunturi HS 142	LH
21		4 Dec 2004	Trondheim	Granåsen HS 131 (night)	LH
22		5 Dec 2004	Trondheim	Granåsen HS 131	LH
23		12 Dec 2004	Harrachov	Čerťák HS 142	LH
24		18 Dec 2004	Engelberg	Gross-Titlis-Schanze HS 137	LH
25		19 Dec 2004	Engelberg	Gross-Titlis-Schanze HS 137	LH
26		29 Dec 2004	Oberstdorf	Schattenbergschanze HS 137 (night)	LH
27		1 Jan 2005	Garmisch-Partenkirchen	Große Olympiaschanze HS 125	LH
28		3 Jan 2005	Innsbruck	Bergiselschanze HS 130	LH
29		9 Jan 2005	Willingen	Mühlenkopfschanze HS 145	LH
30		22 Jan 2005	Titisee-Neustadt	Hochfirstschanze HS 142	LH
31	2005/06	29 Dec 2005	Oberstdorf	Schattenbergschanze HS 137 (night)	LH
32		6 Jan 2006	Bischofshofen	Paul-Ausserleitner-Schanze HS 140 (night)	LH
33	2007/08	5 Jan 2008	Bischofshofen	Paul-Ausserleitner-Schanze HS 140	LH
34		6 Jan 2008	Bischofshofen	Paul-Ausserleitner-Schanze HS 140 (night)	LH
35		20 Jan 2008	Harrachov	Čerťák HS 205	FH
36		4 Mar 2008	Kuopio	Puijo HS 127 (night)	LH

Drag racing

In addition to ski jumping, Ahonen has successfully competed in drag racing, winning the Finnish and Nordic Championships. In 2006, Ahonen set the new European record.

Personal life

Ahonen is married to Tiia Ahonen. They have two sons, Mico (born 2001) and Milo (born 2008).

References

• FIS Newsflash 161. January 9, 2008 on Ahonen's fifth Four Hills Tournament victory win.
• Janne Ahonen at the International Ski Federation
• Janne Ahonen German fan page
• News about Janne ending his ski-jumping career.
• Janne Ahonen Farewell Competition 9.7.2008 in Lahti

External links

• Media related to at Wikimedia Commons

Olympic Games
Preceded by Marja-Liisa Kirvesniemi	Flagbearer for Finland Nagano 1998	Succeeded by Toni Nieminen