Janne Petteri Ahonen (; born 11 May 1977) is a Finnish former

ski jumper Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the fina ...

and

drag racer Drag racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line. The race follows a short, straight course from a standing start over a measured distance, most ...

. 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 A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

overall titles (the most recent ski jumper to do so, as of 2022), the

Four Hills Tournament The Four Hills Tournament (german: link=no, Vierschanzentournee) or the German-Austrian Ski Jumping Week (german: link=no, Deutsch-Österreichische Skisprung-Woche) is a ski jumping event composed of four World Cup events and has taken place in ...

a record five times, two individual gold medals at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

, and the

Nordic Tournament The Nordic Tournament was an annual ski jumping tournament that was a part of the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup. The tournament started in 1997 as a counterpart to the widely successful Four Hills Tournament in Germany and Austria. It is held in Marc ...

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 The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

Career

Ahonen's most notable achievements include five

(normal hill in 1997; large hill in 2005; team large hill in 1995, 1997 and 2003), two

overall titles ( 2003/04 and 2004/05) and a record-breaking five victories in the

( 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 Gregor Schlierenzauer (; born 7 January 1990) is an Austrian former ski jumper who competed from 2006 to 2021. He is one of the most successful ski jumpers of all time, having won the Ski Jumping World Cup overall title, the Four Hills Tourname ...

Matti Nykänen Matti Ensio Nykänen (; 17 July 1963 – 4 February 2019) was a Finnish ski jumper who competed from 1981 to 1991. Widely considered to be the greatest male ski jumper of all time,

and

Adam Małysz Adam Henryk Małysz (; born 3 December 1977) is a Polish former ski jumper and rally driver. He competed in ski jumping from 1995 to 2011 and is one of the most successful athletes in the history of the sport. His many accomplishments include f ...

. In 2005, Ahonen was named the

Finnish Sports Personality of the Year The Finnish Sportspersonality of the Year is chosen annually since 1947 by the national sports journalists. In addition, the best female athlete was nominated each year until 2009. Winners Men Women See also * Finnish Footballer of the ...

. Over the course of nine World Ski Jumping Championships, nine Ski Flying World Championships and seven

, 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 is a Japanese ski jumper. His career achievements include a gold medal at the FIS Ski Flying World Championships 1992, 1992 Ski Flying World Championships, winning the Nordic Tournament 1999, 1999 Nordic Tournament, individual silver medal at th ...

. Ahonen announced his retirement from ski jumping on 28 March 2008, with a farewell competition held in

Lahti Lahti (; sv, Lahtis) is a city and municipality in Finland. It is the capital of the region of Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme) and its growing region is one of the main economic hubs of Finland. Lahti is situated on a bay at the southern e ...

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 , ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'') , nations = 88 , events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , athletes = 2,873 , opening = 7 February 2014 , closing = 23 February 2014 , opened_by = President Vladimir Putin , cauldron = , stadium = Fisht Olympic ...

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents in ...

. 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 South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, where he placed 27th and 40th in the individual competitions and was part of the Finnish team that finished eighth in the team competition. 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".

Olympic games

Standings

World Cup

Standings

Wins

Drag racing

Ahonen competes with his ''Ahonen Racing Team - ART'' in

drag racing Drag racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line. The race follows a short, straight course from a standing start over a measured distance, most c ...

, winning the Finnish and Nordic Championships. His best performance in

Top Fuel Top Fuel is a type of drag racing whose dragsters are the quickest accelerating racing cars in the world and the fastest sanctioned category of drag racing, with the fastest competitors reaching speeds of and finishing the runs in 3.62 seconds ...

is 4.044 sec. 476.19 km/h in 2012.

Personal life

Ahonen is married to Tiia Ahonen, with whom he has two sons born in 2001 and 2008.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ahonen, Janne 1977 births Living people Sportspeople from Lahti Finnish male ski jumpers Finnish racing drivers Olympic silver medalists for Finland Olympic ski jumpers of Finland Ski jumpers at the 1994 Winter Olympics Ski jumpers at the 1998 Winter Olympics Ski jumpers at the 2002 Winter Olympics Ski jumpers at the 2006 Winter Olympics Ski jumpers at the 2010 Winter Olympics Ski jumpers at the 2014 Winter Olympics Ski jumpers at the 2018 Winter Olympics Dragster drivers Olympic medalists in ski jumping FIS Nordic World Ski Championships medalists in ski jumping Holmenkollen medalists Medalists at the 2006 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2002 Winter Olympics