After Bode's parents moved to Thuringia, she began tobogganing in 1979 in Ilmenau . After her talent had shown itself, she was delegated to the children's and youth sports school in Oberhof and from then on started for the ASK Vorwärts Oberhof . There she belonged to the training group of the former Olympic champion Margit Schumann in the junior division . In 1985, Bode first drew nationwide attention when she became GDR junior champion and won her age group at the Xth Children's and Youth Spartakiad. Because of these achievements, Jana Bode was reported for the first time in 1986 together with her club mate Susi Erdmann at the GDR championships for senior citizens, where she finished 6th. For the winter season 1986/87 Bode was registered for the first time for the World Cup. During this season, in February 1987 in Sarajevo, she won the European Junior Championship ahead of Susi Erdmann. After that, her hopeful career suffered a break. Since she was allegedly no longer up to the lure of capitalism, she was removed from the performance cadre. After graduating from high school, she was given the opportunity to start studying sports at the DHfK Leipzig , of which she completed two semesters. In September 1989, she and her boyfriend at the time used a vacation in Hungary to flee across the green border to the west. It was accepted by the BSC Winterberg and started in December 1989 at the start of the European three-track tour for the German team. At the European Championships in Igls and the World Championships in Calgary in 1990, she won the bronze medal. In 1990 she also won the German championships. The following season 1990/91 was also successful for Bode. So she won the bronze medal again at the world championships on her home track in Winterberg and became the first all-German champion, whether her past was a special triumph for her. In the following season, however, she plunged into a sporting crisis, which resulted in the missed qualification for the 1992 Olympic Games in Albertville . In the 1993/94 winter sports season, Bode was able to make a name for itself again. She became Vice European Champion in Königssee , German Champion and qualified for the Olympic Games in Lillehammer. However, with a 14th place, these were extremely unsatisfactory. Her most successful season was in 1996, when she became world and European champion and won the overall world cup. At the world championships in the following year, Jana Bode, who had not qualified, was only allowed to compete as defending champion because of her status and won the silver medal. In qualifying for the 1998 Olympic Games in Nagano , she could not prevail against the competition of Susi Erdmann, Sylke Otto , Silke Kraushaar and Barbara Niedernhuber and ended her career.
After her career, Bode completed an apprenticeship as a physiotherapist.