Janne Ahonen

Janne Ahonen

Janne Petteri Ahonen ( pronunciation) (born May 11, 1977 in Lahti, Finland) is a former Finnish ski jumper who competed in the World Cup between 1992 and 2011. He is often considered as one of the most successful athletes in the history of ski jumping.

Ahonen's most notable achievements include five World Championships (normal hill 1997, large hill 2005, team large hill 1995, 1997 and 2003), two World Cup overall victories (2002–2003 and 2004–2005) and a record-breaking five victories in the Four Hills Tournament (1998–1999, 2002–2003, 2004–2005, 2005–2006 and 2007–2008). He is the all-time leader in World Cup points, podiums (108) and Top 10 appearances (245). With 36 World Cup victories, Ahonen is the all-time third, behind Matti Nykänen (46) and Adam Małysz (39). In 2005, Ahonen was named the Finnish Sports Personality of the Year.

In 9 World Ski Championship Games, 9 Ski-Flying World Championship Games and 5 Olympic Games, Ahonen won a total of 19 medals, equalling the medal count of Matti Nykänen. Despite his success, Ahonen never won an individual Olympic medal placing 4th three times. In Olympic team competitions, he won two silver medals.

Ahonen announced his retirement from ski jumping on March 28, 2008. His farewell competition was held in Lahti on July 9, 2008.

After one season's absence, Ahonen came back for two more seasons, 2009–2010 and 2010–2011. The best achievement of Ahonen's revived career was the second place in the Four Hills Tournament in 2009-2010.

During his ski jumping career, Ahonen was known for his apparent lack of emotion and was rarely seen smiling even on the podium. When asked for a reason, he responded "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 as "the Mask", according to the plastic mask Ahonen wore in competitions in the late 1990s. In Finland, Ahonen is often called "Kuningaskotka" ("The King Eagle").