- Janne Ahonen
Janne Petteri Ahonen (Audio|Fi-Janne_Ahonen.ogg|pronunciation) (born
May 11 ,1977 inLahti ,Finland ) is a Finnish ski jumper who competed from 1992 to 2008. He is considered one of the best and most successful ski jumpers of all time. His achievements include individual World Championships in 1997 (normal hill) and 2005 (large hill), first place in the World Cup in 2003–2004 and 2004–2005, and first place in theFour Hills Tournament for a record-breaking five times, bettering the previous record of four byJens Weissflog . Interestingly, Ahonen won the 1999 tournament without winning a single event, coming second on all four hills.Ahonen's other medals in the
FIS Nordic World Ski Championships include the individual normal hill (bronze: 2005), individual large hill (bronze: 2001), team normal hill (silver: 2001), and team large hill (gold: 1995, 1997, 2003; silver: 2001, 2005). However, Ahonen never got an Olympic medal from individual competition.In addition to competing as a ski jumper, Ahonen has also successfully maintained a side-career in
drag racing , winning both Finnish and Nordic Championship titles in 2004. He races with Team Eagle Racing, named after his Finnish nickname "Flying Eagle". He is married to Tiia Ahonen, and they have two sons, Mico (born 2001) and Milo (born 2008). In December 2005 Ahonen was named the Finnish athlete of the year.Ahonen announced to end his ski jumping career on March 26, 2008, but he has already promised to take part in worldcup 2008-2009 in "some way or another". [http://www.hs.fi/urheilu/makihyppy/artikkeli/Janne+Ahonen+jättää+mäkihypyn/1135235067363] His retirement was confirmed by the FIS in late April. [FIS Newsflash 177. April 30, 2008.]
Ahonen's career officially end in Lahti on July 9, 2008 in a friendly competition on the HS 97 hill. A remarkable number of his former competitors were present, including
Poland 'sAdam Małysz , the Germans Martin Schmitt and Georg Späth, theAustria nAndreas Goldberger andAndreas Widhölzl ,Norway 'sRoar Ljøkelsøy andBjørn-Einar Romøren ,Japan 'sNoriaki Kasai ,Switzerland 'sAndreas Kuettel , and fellow FinnsTami Kiuru ,Matti Hautamäki ,Janne Happonen ,Veli-Matti Lindström ,Kimmo Yliriesto ,Pasi Ahonen ,Ville Larinto , andVille Kantee . Despite three months without any training jumps, Ahonen finished his career with another victory by jumping the furthest distance on both rounds.Adam Malysz finished second andGeorg Späth thirdSee more [ [http://www.lahtiskigames.com/english/janneahonen08/ 2008 Lahti Ski Games information on Ahonen] ] [FIS Newsflash 188. July 16, 2008.]Achievements
Winter Olympic Games *
2002 Winter Olympics
**Silver - team large hill
*2006 Winter Olympics
**Silver - team large hillFIS Nordic World Ski Championships *1995 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships
**Gold - Team large hill
*1997 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships
**Gold - Individual normal hill
**Gold - Team large hill
*2001 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships
**Silver - Team normal hill
**Bronze - Team large hill
**Bronze - Individual large hill
*2003 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships
**Gold - Team large hill
*2005 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships
**Gold - Individual large hill
**Silver - Team large hill
**Bronze - Individual normal hillFour Hills Tournament *Nine wins, eight second places, eight third places and five overall victories.
*1994–1995Four Hills Tournament
**Victory atGarmisch-Partenkirchen
*1998–1999Four Hills Tournament
**Overall victory (no individual wins)
*1999–2000Four Hills Tournament
**Overall second
*2000–2001Four Hills Tournament
**Overall second
*2002–2003Four Hills Tournament
**Overall victory
**Victory atInnsbruck
*2004–2005Four Hills Tournament
**Overall victory
**Wins atOberstdorf ,Garmisch-Partenkirchen ,Innsbruck
*2005–2006Four Hills Tournament
**Overall victory (shared withJakub Janda )
**Wins atOberstdorf ,Bischofshofen
*2007–2008Four Hills Tournament
**Win atBischofshofen (originally scheduled forInnsbruck )
**Win atBischofshofen
**Overall victorySki-flying World Championships *1996
Ski-flying World Championships
**Silver - Individual flying hill
*2000Ski-flying World Championships
**Bronze - Individual flying hill
*2004Ski-flying World Championships
**Silver - Individual flying hill
**Silver - Team flying hill
*2006Ski-flying World Championships
**Silver - Team flying hill
*2008Ski-flying World Championships
**Silver - Team flying hill
**Bronze - Individual flying hillSki jumping World Cup *World Cup: 36 victories, 42 second places, 27 third places
*Summer Grand Prix: 5 victories, 6 second places, 2 third places
*Most podium positions of all jumpers (105)
*Most world cup points of all jumpers
*Only jumper to win 12 times in a season (2004-2005)
*Six consecutive victories (ties the record withMatti Hautamäki andThomas Morgenstern )
*Longest jump in the world (fell on landing): 240 m (Planica 2005)Overall
*1992-93: 50.
*1993-94: 10.
*1994-95: 3.
*1995-96: 3.
*1996-97: 8.
*1997-98: 9.
*1998-99: 2.
*1999-00: 3.
*2000-01: 5.
*2001-02: 15.
*2002-03: 4.
*2003-04: 1.
*2004-05: 1.
*2005-06: 2.
*2006-07: 8.
*2007-08: 3.Hill records
*12.12.2004
Harrachov 145.5 m
*18.12.2004Engelberg 141.0 m
*09.01.2005Willingen 152.0 mReferences
*FIS Newsflash 161. January 9, 2008 on Ahonen's fifth Four Hills Tournament victory win.
*FIS|S=JP|ID=445
* [http://www.janne-ahonen.com/ Janne Ahonen German fan page]
* [http://www.hs.fi/urheilu/makihyppy/artikkeli/Janne+Ahonen+jättää+mäkihypyn/1135235067363 | News about Janne ending his ski-jumpping career.]
* [http://www.lahtiskigames.com/english/janneahonen08/ Janne Ahonen Farewell Competition 9.7.2008 in Lahti]
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