Background
Throughout his sporting career, Ahokas trained for Nurmon Jymy Wrestling Club in Seinäjoki under his father and personal coach Risto Ahokas.
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 United States. 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 Pikilidis 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.
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.
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.
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