 |
Janne Ahonen
* May 11, 1977 Lahti
184 cm, 66 kg
Present residence: Lahti
Club: Lahden Hiihtoseura
Coach: Tommi Nikunen
In 2008 Janne Ahonen retired from ski jumping as a legend of the sport. In the course of 16 years he had earned 17 World Championship medals, 36 victories and two overall titles in the World Cup as well as record five victories of the Four Hills of Tournament – but remarkably only two Olympic medals, both of them silver in the team competition. No wonder then that one year later he announced his return for one more shot at Olympic glory at the Vancouver Games. He underlined his intentions at the turn of the year with second place at the Four Hills Tournament. Janne is married and father of two sons. His summer sport is drag racing, where he has won several Finnish and Scandinavian titles.
Previous Olympic Games:
1994 LH 25th, NH 37th, team 5th.
1998 NH 4th, LH 37th, team 5th.
2002 NH 4th, LH 9th, team silver.
2006 NH 6th, LH 9th, team silver.
Other achievements:
1993 WCh LH 31st, team 6th. WJCh gold, team gold.
1994 WCh ski flying 12th. WJCh gold, team gold.
1995 WCh NH 9th, LH 9th, team gold.
1996 WCh ski flying silver.
1997 WCh NH gold, LH 8th, team gold.
1998 WCh ski flying 8th.
1999 WCh NH 4th , LH 4th, team 4th.
2000 WCh ski flying bronze.
2001 WCh LH bronze, NH 6th, NH team silver, LH team silver.
2002 WCh ski flying 24th.
2003 WCh LH 35th, team gold.
2004 WCh ski flying silver, ski flying team silver.
2005 WCh LH gold, NH bronze, LH team silver, NH team 4th.
2006 WCh ski flying 8th, ski flying team silver.
2007 WCh NH 14th, LH 6th, team 4th.
2008 WCh ski flying bronze, ski flying team silver.
World Cup: 36 wins. Overall champion in 2003/04 and 2004/05.
 |
Janne Happonen
* June 18,1984 Kuopio
180 cm, 63 kg
Present residence: Kuopio
Club: Puijon Hiihtoseura
Coach: Janne Väätäinen
Janne Happonen made his breakthrough into the Finnish ski jumping team in the 2005/06 season. He won team silver in his Olympic debut at the Turin Games and later in the spring took his first World Cup victory in Lahti. Janne had an excellent 2007/08 season, finishing eighth in the overall standings of the World Cup, but disaster struck shortly afterwards: in June 2008 he broke his thigh bone at training in Klingenthal and was sidelined for more than a year. The Olympic season has seen Janne make his comeback to the World Cup circuit. Janne’s favourite summer pastime is motorcycling.
Previous Olympic Games:
2006 NH 28th, team silver.
Other achievements:
2001 WJCh team gold.
2002 WJCh gold, team gold.
2006 WCh ski flying 9th, ski flying team silver.
2007 WCh LH 37th.
2008 WCh ski flying 5th, ski flying team silver.
World Cup: 3 wins.
 |
Matti Hautamäki
* July 14, 1981 Oulu
177 cm, 64 kg
Present residence: Kuopio
Club: Puijon Hiihtoseura
Coach: Jarkko Saapunki
Matti Hautamäki’s three silver medals and one bronze make him the most successful Finnish Olympic athlete of the 21st century. With any better luck two of his silver medals could have turned to gold: in 2002 Finland lost the team event to Germany by only 0.1 points, and in 2006 Matti was beaten in the normal hill by a margin of one point. As it now happens, Matti’s only gold medal has come from the team competition at the World Championships of 2003 in Val di Fiemme. Another famous feat of his was to win six World Cup competitions in a row in the spring of 2005. Matti’s elder brother Jussi Hautamäki has also been a national team ski jumper.
Previous Olympic Games:
2002 LH bronze, NH 6th, team silver.
2006 NH silver, LH 5th, team silver.
Other achievements:
1997 WJCh team silver.
1998 WJCh NH bronze, team bronze.
1999 WJCh team silver.
2001 WCh NH 9th, NH team silver.
2003 WCh LH silver, NH 9th, team gold.
2004 WCh ski flying 7th, ski flying team silver.
2005 WCh LH 6th, NH 17th, LH team silver, NH team 4th.
2006 WCh ski flying 11th, ski flying team silver.
2007 WCh NH 15th, LH 18th, team 4th.
2008 WCh ski flying 14th, ski flying team silver.
2009 WCh LH 11th, NH 36th, team 6th.
World Cup: 16 wins.
 |
Kalle Keituri
* April 25, 1984 Lahti
170 cm, 55 kg
Present residence: Sulzberg (Germany)
Club: Lahden Hiihtoseura
Coach: Kimmo Kykkänen
Kalle Keituri won bronze at the World Junior Championships back in 2002 but managed to make his breakthrough into the Finnish senior national team only last season. In 2009 he participated in all three competitions at the World Championships in Liberec. Kalle’s best result in World Cup competitions has been fourth place in Sapporo in January 2009, but he has contributed to two Finnish victories at World Cup team competitions. Kalle lives nowadays in his wife’s homeland Germany near the famous jumping hills of Oberstdorf.
Achievements:
2002 WJCh NH bronze.
2009 WCh NH 29th, LH 31st, team 6th.
 |
Harri Olli
* January 15, 1985 Rovaniemi
174 cm, 58 kg
Present residence: Lahti
Club: Ounasvaaran Hiihtoseura
Coach: Pentti Olli
Harri Olli became an instant hero in Finland with his unexpected silver medal in the large hill competition at the World Championships of 2007 in Sapporo; he lost the gold medal to Simon Ammann by only 0.2 points. He took his first World Cup victory in February 2009 in the ski flying competition in Oberstdorf and won also in Lillehammer and Planica later in the spring. Harri hails from Rovaniemi but lives and trains nowadays in Lahti. He is enrolled to study mathematics at the University of Oulu, but that may have to wait until the end of his ski jumping career.
Achievements:
2002 WJCh team gold.
2003 WJCh team bronze.
2007 WCh LH silver, NH 31st, team 4th.
2008 WCh ski flying 6th, ski flying team silver.
2009 WCh NH 13th, LH 21st, team 6th.
World Cup: 3 wins.
