Janne Ahonen of Finland was the defending champion and would finish sixth at these championships.
Janne Schaffer | Janne Josefsson | Janne Ahonen | Janne Tuven | Janne Teller | Janne Suni | Janne Parviainen | Janne M. Sjödahl | Janne Haaland Matlary | Janne Carlsson | Esko Ahonen |
With 28 world cup successes (10 in the 1998/1999 season, 11 in 1999/2000, 6 in 2000/01, and 1 in 2001/2002), he finished sixth in the world rankings behind Matti Nykänen (46 victories), Gregor Schlierenzauer (44 victories), Adam Małysz (39 victories), Janne Ahonen (36 victories) and Jens Weißflog (33 victories).