Janne Ahonen

Janne Petteri Ahonen (; born 11 May 1977) 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 2025), 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.

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. 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. 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.

Olympic games Standings

EventAgeNormal hillLarge hillTeam 1994 Lillehammer 16 37th 25th 5th 1998 Nagano 204th 37th 5th 2002 Salt Lake City 244th 9thSilver 2006 Turin 28 6th 9thSilver 2010 Vancouver 324th 31st – 2014 Sochi 36 29th 22nd 8th 2018 Pyeongchang 40 40th 28th 8th

World Cup

Standings Season Overall1992–93 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 5 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 1995–96 6 N/A N/A N/A N/A 51996–97 8 18 7 N/A N/A N/A 4 91997–98 9 11 N/A N/A N/A 9 81998–99 6 N/A N/A N/A 15 1999–00 N/A N/A N/A 2000–01 5 6 N/A N/A N/A 36 N/A2001–02 15 26 N/A N/A N/A N/A 6 N/A2002–03 4 N/A N/A N/A N/A 13 N/A2003–04 5 N/A N/A N/A N/A 4 N/A2004–05 N/A N/A N/A N/A 5 N/A2005–06 N/A N/A N/A N/A 24 N/A2006–07 8 8 N/A N/A N/A N/A 4 N/A2007–08 N/A N/A N/A N/A 4 N/A2009–10 11 10 N/A N/A N/A 51 N/A2010–11 44 24 — N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A2013–14 31 23 — N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A2014–15 58 — 46 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A2015–16 — — — N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A2016–17 50 — 36 74 N/A N/A N/A N/A2017–18 — — — — — — N/A N/A

Wins No. Season Date Location Hill Size1 1993–94 19 December 1993 Engelberg Gross-Titlis-Schanze K120 2 1994–95 1 January 1995 Garmisch-Partenkirchen Große Olympiaschanze K107 LH3 1995–96 3 December 1995 Lillehammer Lysgårdsbakken K120 LH4 10 February 1996 Tauplitz/Bad Mitterndorf Kulm K185 5 1997–98 7 March 1998 Lahti Salpausselkä K114 LH6 1998–99 6 December 1998 Chamonix Le Mont K95 7 19 December 1998 Harrachov Čerťák K120 LH8 20 December 1998 Harrachov Čerťák K120 LH9 9 January 1999 Engelberg Gross-Titlis-Schanze K120 LH10 17 January 1999 Zakopane Wielka Krokiew K116 LH11 7 February 1999 Harrachov Čerťák K120 LH12 1999–00 12 December 1999 Villach Villacher Alpenarena K90 NH13 4 December 2000 Lahti Salpausselkä K90 NH14 2002–03 21 December 2002 Engelberg Gross-Titlis-Schanze K125 LH15 4 January 2003 Innsbruck Bergiselschanze K120 LH16 2003–04 10 January 2004 Liberec Ještěd A K120 LH17 11 January 2004 Liberec Ještěd A K120 LH18 14 February 2004 Willingen Mühlenkopfschanze K130 LH19 2004–05 27 November 2004 Kuusamo Rukatunturi HS142 LH20 28 November 2004 Kuusamo Rukatunturi HS142 LH21 4 December 2004 Trondheim Granåsen HS131 LH22 5 December 2004 Trondheim Granåsen HS131 LH23 12 December 2004 Harrachov Čerťák HS142 LH24 18 December 2004 Engelberg Gross-Titlis-Schanze HS137 LH25 19 December 2004 Engelberg Gross-Titlis-Schanze HS137 LH26 29 December 2004 Oberstdorf Schattenbergschanze HS137 LH27 1 January 2005 Garmisch-Partenkirchen Große Olympiaschanze HS125 LH28 3 January 2005 Innsbruck Bergiselschanze HS130 LH29 9 January 2005 Willingen Mühlenkopfschanze HS145 LH30 22 January 2005 Titisee-Neustadt Hochfirstschanze HS142 LH31 2005–06 29 December 2005 Oberstdorf Schattenbergschanze HS137 LH32 6 January 2006 Bischofshofen Paul-Ausserleitner-Schanze HS140 LH33 2007–08 5 January 2008 Bischofshofen Paul-Ausserleitner-Schanze HS140 LH34 6 January 2008 Bischofshofen Paul-Ausserleitner-Schanze HS140 LH35 20 January 2008 Harrachov Čerťák HS205 FH36 4 March 2008 Kuopio Puijo HS127 LH

Drag racing Ahonen competes with his Ahonen Racing Team - ART 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.

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. The couple parted in 2025.

Autobiography In 2009, the first edition of Ahonen's autobiography Kuningaskotka was published. 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.