Juha Ahokas

{{short description|Finnish Greco-Roman wrestler}}

{{Infobox sport wrestler

| name = Juha Ahokas

| image =

| imagesize =

| caption =

| fullname = Juha Matti Ahokas

| nickname = Nalle

| nationality = {{FIN}}

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1969|9|18|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Kokkola, Finland

| death_date =

| death_place =

| height = {{height|m=1.89|abbr=on}}

| weight = {{convert|128|kg|lb|0|abbr=on}}

| website =

| country =

| style = Greco-Roman

| club = Nurmon Jymy

| coach = Risto Ahokas

| medaltemplates=

{{MedalSport | Men's Greco-Roman wrestling}}

{{MedalCountry|{{FIN}}}}

{{Medal|Competition|World Cup}}

{{Medal|Gold|Heinola 1993|130 kg}}

{{MedalCompetition|European Championships}}

{{MedalGold|2003 Belgrade|120 kg}}

{{MedalSilver|1997 Kouvola|125 kg}}

{{MedalSilver|2006 Moscow|130 kg}}

{{MedalBronze|2002 Seinäjoki|130 kg}}

| show_medals = yes

}}

Juha Matti Ahokas (born September 18, 1969, in Kokkola) is a retired amateur Finnish Greco-Roman wrestler, who competed in the men's super heavyweight category.{{cite sports-reference|title = Juha Ahokas|url = https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ah/juha-ahokas-1.html|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200417180017/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ah/juha-ahokas-1.html|url-status = dead|archive-date = 17 April 2020|access-date = 14 June 2014}} He has won thirty Finnish championship titles,{{Cite web |last=Ruissalo |first=Pekka |date=2021-01-27 |title=Kotimaa: Painin Suomen-mestaruuden 30 kertaa voittanut Juha Ahokas muutti Tampereelle ja löysi työpaikan suntiona |url=https://www.tamperelainen.fi/paikalliset/3461686 |access-date=2024-08-11 |website=Tamperelainen |language=fi}} collected four medals (one gold, two silver, and one bronze) at the European Championships, and also represented his nation Finland in four editions of the Olympic Games (1988, 1992, 1996, and 2004). Throughout his sporting career, Ahokas trained for Nurmon Jymy Wrestling Club in Seinäjoki under his father and personal coach Risto Ahokas.

Ahokas made his official debut, as an 18-year-old teen, at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, where he lost the second round of the elimination pool to U.S. wrestler Dennis Koslowski in the men's heavyweight division. Four years later, at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Ahokas competed in the super heavyweight category (130 kg) and slammed Greece's Panagiotis Poikilidis off the mat with a 1–0 sudden death lead to finish strongly in seventh.

Determined to return to the Olympic scene and medal, Ahokas entered the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta as a top medal favorite in the men's 130 kg class. He beat Sweden's Tomas Johansson in his opening match, but suffered a tremendous fall from the unbeatable Russian and reigning Olympic champion Aleksandr Karelin in the third round.{{cite news|last=Araton|first=Harvey|title=Atlanta: Day 4 – Wrestling; Karelin Puts His Shoulder Into Tough Victory|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/07/23/sports/atlanta-day-4-wrestling-karelin-puts-his-shoulder-into-tough-victory.html|work=New York Times|date=23 July 1996|accessdate=14 June 2014}} Facing off against Ukraine's Petro Kotok in the fourth repechage, Ahokas could not score a single point to subdue his opponent and lost the match with a fourteenth-place finish.{{cite web|title=Atlanta 1996: Wrestling – Men's Greco-Roman 130kg|url=http://la84foundation.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1996/1996v3p2.pdf|work=Atlanta 1996|publisher=LA84 Foundation|page=206|accessdate=23 May 2014|archive-date=24 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524065358/http://www.la84foundation.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1996/1996v3p2.pdf|url-status=dead}}

Despite a stunning upset from his third Games, Ahokas took home his first medal at the 1997 European Championships in Kouvola, and continued to flourish his sporting success in the late 1990s and early 2000s, until he wrestled Hungary's Mihály Deák-Bárdos for the gold in the 120-kg division at the 2003 European Championships in Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro.{{cite news|title=Juha Ahokas wrestles to gold in European Championships|url=http://www2.hs.fi/english/archive/news.asp?id=20030526IE2|publisher=Helsingin Sanomat|date=26 May 2003|accessdate=14 June 2014|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714162345/http://www2.hs.fi/english/archive/news.asp?id=20030526IE2|archivedate=14 July 2014}}

Eight years after his last Olympics and having missed the previous Games due to back injury, Ahokas qualified for the Finnish squad, as a 34-year-old veteran, in the men's 120 kg class at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Earlier in the process, he received a ticket and rounded out the seventh spot from the 2003 World Wrestling Championships in Créteil, France.{{cite news|last=Abbott|first=Gary|title=Olympic Games preview at 120 kg/264.5 lbs. in men's Greco-Roman|url=http://www.themat.com/section.php?section_id=3&page=showarticle&ArticleID=10356|work=USA Wrestling|publisher=The Mat|date=28 July 2004|accessdate=21 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140522195417/http://www.themat.com/section.php?section_id=3&page=showarticle&ArticleID=10356|archive-date=22 May 2014|url-status=dead}} Aged and frail, Ahokas lost two straight matches to his former rival Deák-Bárdos (0–3) and Iran's Sajjad Barzi through a 1–2 tight brawl in the prelim pool, finishing only in seventeenth place out of twenty super heavyweight wrestlers.{{cite web|title=Wrestling: Men's Greco-Roman 120kg|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics_2004/wrestling/results/3532818.stm|work=Athens 2004|publisher=BBC Sport|date=15 August 2004|accessdate=23 September 2013}}{{cite news|title=Ahokas joutuu heti kovaan kyytiin|trans-title=Ahokas has been immediately picked up by the mighty|language=Finnish|url=http://www.ts.fi/olympialaiset/ateena/1073987979/Ahokas+joutuu+heti+kovaan+kyytiin|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714192409/http://www.ts.fi/olympialaiset/ateena/1073987979/Ahokas+joutuu+heti+kovaan+kyytiin|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 14, 2014|publisher=Turun Sanomat|date=25 August 2004|accessdate=14 June 2014}}

Ahokas ended his illustrious sporting career with another silver medal at the 2006 European Championships in Moscow, before he officially retired by the following year due to spinal and shoulder injuries sustained in the past.{{cite news|title=Ahokas lopettaa painiuransa|trans-title=Ahokas ends his wrestling career|language=Finnish|url=https://www.ts.fi/urheilu/1074237945|publisher=Turun Sanomat|date=2 November 2007|access-date=14 June 2014}}{{cite news|title=Juha Ahokas jättää painimolskit|trans-title=Juha Ahokas leaves wrestling|language=Finnish|url=http://www.mtv.fi/sport/muutlajit/uutiset.shtml/2007/11/577235/juha-ahokas-jattaa-painimolskit|publisher=MTV Finland|date=1 November 2007|accessdate=14 June 2014}}