Janne Ahonen

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Janne Ahonen
Janne Ahonen Oslo 2011 (team, normal hill) 1.jpg
Ahonen in Oslo, 2011
CountryFinland
Full nameJanne Petteri Ahonen
Born (1977-05-11) 11 May 1977 (age 46)
Lahti, Finland
Ski clubLahden Hiihtoseura
Personal best233.5 m (766 ft)
Planica, 20 March 2005
World Cup career
Seasons
Starts412
Podiums108
Wins36
Overall titles2 (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
Event1st2nd3rd
Olympic Games 020
World Championships 532
Ski Flying World Championships 052
Total5104
Olympic Games
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2002 Salt Lake City Team LH
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2006 Turin Team LH
World Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1995 Thunder Bay Team LH
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1997 Trondheim Individual NH
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1997 Trondheim Team LH
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2003 Val di Fiemme Team LH
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2005 Oberstdorf Individual LH
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2001 Lahti Team LH
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2001 Lahti Team NH
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2005 Oberstdorf Team LH
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2001 Lahti Individual LH
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2005 Oberstdorf Individual NH
Men's ski flying
World Championships
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1996 Bad Mitterndorf Individual
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2004 Planica Individual
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2004 Planica Team
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2006 Bad Mitterndorf Team
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2008 Oberstdorf Team
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2000 Vikersund Individual
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2008 Oberstdorf Individual

Janne Petteri Ahonen (pronounced [ˈjɑnːeˈpetːeriˈɑhonen] ; 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]

Contents

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. [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

Standings

EventNormal hillLarge hillTeam
Flag of Norway.svg 1994 Lillehammer 37th25th5th
Flag of Japan.svg 1998 Nagano 4th37th5th
Flag of the United States.svg 2002 Salt Lake City 4th9thSilver
Flag of Italy.svg 2006 Turin 6th9thSilver
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg 2010 Vancouver 4th31st4th
Flag of Russia.svg 2014 Sochi 29th22nd8th
Flag of South Korea.svg 2018 Pyeongchang 40th28th8th

World Cup

Standings

 Season Overall4HSFRAW5P7NTJP
1992–93 5046N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
1993–94 101612N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
1994–95 Bronze medal icon.svgBronze medal icon.svg5N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
1995–96 Bronze medal icon.svg6Silver medal icon.svgN/AN/AN/AN/A5
1996–97 8187N/AN/AN/A49
1997–98 9Bronze medal icon.svg11N/AN/AN/A98
1998–99 Silver medal icon.svgGold medal icon.svg6N/AN/AN/A15Gold medal icon.svg
1999–00 Bronze medal icon.svgSilver medal icon.svgSilver medal icon.svgN/AN/AN/AGold medal icon.svgBronze medal icon.svg
2000–01 5Silver medal icon.svg6N/AN/AN/A36N/A
2001–02 1526N/AN/AN/AN/A6N/A
2002–03 4Gold medal icon.svgN/AN/AN/AN/A13N/A
2003–04 Gold medal icon.svg5N/AN/AN/AN/A4N/A
2004–05 Gold medal icon.svgGold medal icon.svgN/AN/AN/AN/A5N/A
2005–06 Silver medal icon.svgGold medal icon.svgN/AN/AN/AN/A24N/A
2006–07 88N/AN/AN/AN/A4N/A
2007–08 Bronze medal icon.svgGold medal icon.svgN/AN/AN/AN/A4N/A
2009–10 11Silver medal icon.svg10N/AN/AN/A51N/A
2010–11 4424N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
2013–14 3123N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
2014–15 5846N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
2015–16 N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
2016–17 503674N/AN/AN/AN/A
2017–18 N/AN/A

Wins

No.SeasonDateLocationHillSize
1 1993–94 19 December 1993   Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Engelberg Gross-Titlis-Schanze K120LH
2 1994–95 1 January 1995   Flag of Germany.svg Garmisch-Partenkirchen Große Olympiaschanze K107LH
3 1995–96 3 December 1995   Flag of Norway.svg Lillehammer Lysgårdsbakken K120LH
410 February 1996   Flag of Austria.svg Tauplitz/Bad Mitterndorf Kulm K185FH
5 1997–98 7 March 1998   Flag of Finland.svg Lahti Salpausselkä K114LH
6 1998–99 6 December 1998   Flag of France.svg Chamonix Le Mont K95NH
719 December 1998   Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Harrachov Čerťák K120LH
820 December 1998   Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Harrachov Čerťák K120LH
99 January 1999   Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Engelberg Gross-Titlis-Schanze K120LH
1017 January 1999   Flag of Poland.svg Zakopane Wielka Krokiew K116LH
117 February 1999   Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Harrachov Čerťák K120LH
12 1999–00 12 December 1999   Flag of Austria.svg Villach Villacher Alpenarena K90NH
134 December 2000   Flag of Finland.svg Lahti Salpausselkä K90NH
14 2002–03 21 December 2002   Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Engelberg Gross-Titlis-Schanze K125LH
154 January 2003   Flag of Austria.svg Innsbruck Bergiselschanze K120LH
16 2003–04 10 January 2004   Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Liberec Ještěd A K120LH
1711 January 2004   Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Liberec Ještěd A K120LH
1814 February 2004   Flag of Germany.svg Willingen Mühlenkopfschanze K130LH
19 2004–05 27 November 2004   Flag of Finland.svg Kuusamo Rukatunturi HS142LH
2028 November 2004   Flag of Finland.svg Kuusamo Rukatunturi HS142LH
214 December 2004   Flag of Norway.svg Trondheim Granåsen HS131LH
225 December 2004   Flag of Norway.svg Trondheim Granåsen HS131LH
2312 December 2004   Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Harrachov Čerťák HS142LH
2418 December 2004   Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Engelberg Gross-Titlis-Schanze HS137LH
2519 December 2004   Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Engelberg Gross-Titlis-Schanze HS137LH
2629 December 2004   Flag of Germany.svg Oberstdorf Schattenbergschanze HS137LH
271 January 2005   Flag of Germany.svg Garmisch-Partenkirchen Große Olympiaschanze HS125LH
283 January 2005   Flag of Austria.svg Innsbruck Bergiselschanze HS130LH
299 January 2005   Flag of Germany.svg Willingen Mühlenkopfschanze HS145LH
3022 January 2005   Flag of Germany.svg Titisee-Neustadt Hochfirstschanze HS142LH
31 2005–06 29 December 2005   Flag of Germany.svg Oberstdorf Schattenbergschanze HS137LH
326 January 2006   Flag of Austria.svg Bischofshofen Paul-Ausserleitner-Schanze HS140LH
33 2007–08 5 January 2008   Flag of Austria.svg Bischofshofen Paul-Ausserleitner-Schanze HS140LH
346 January 2008   Flag of Austria.svg Bischofshofen Paul-Ausserleitner-Schanze HS140LH
3520 January 2008   Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Harrachov Čerťák HS205FH
364 March 2008   Flag of Finland.svg Kuopio Puijo HS127LH

Drag racing

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

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]

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References

  1. "Janne AHONEN".
  2. 1 2 3 4 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". 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

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Janne Ahonen at Wikimedia Commons

Olympic Games
Preceded by Flagbearer for Flag of Finland.svg  Finland
Nagano 1998
Succeeded by
Preceded by Flagbearer for Flag of Finland.svg  Finland
PyeongChang 2018
Succeeded by