Happonen started ski jumping when he was 11 years old, was a member of the Finnish A-team between 1993 and 1997 and also competed in the World Cup in 1993 . As the best result in the World Cup, he achieved 15th place in the individual in 1993 (March 28, 1993 in Planica ), and 5th place in the team the day before, both on the large hill. When he no longer achieved top results, Happonen was assigned to the Finnish B-squad and started in competitions of the Ski Jumping Continental Cup , where he won the overall ranking ahead of Martin Höllwarth and teammate Risto Jussilainen in the 1994/1995 season and thus celebrated his greatest success could. He was also able to win the Junior World Championship with the Finnish junior team (consisting of: Janne Ahonen , Risto Jussilainen , Janne Väätäinen and Happonen himself) in 1992, 1993 and 1994. From 1995 Happonen lived in Kuopio and moved from his hometown club "Jyväskylän Hiihtoseura" to the club Puijon Hiihtoseura , since he was part of the Finnish national team from 1993 and better training opportunities were offered in Kuopio.
In 2000, Happonen ended his active career to take care of his private life and family. In addition, after retiring from his career, he trained the ski jumping team of the Finnish juniors for 3 years.
Musician
In addition to skiing, Happonen's hobby has always been to play the drums and violin since he was five. Through ski jumping he finally met his colleagues Ville Kantee , Jarkko Saapunki and Jussi Hautamäki , with whom he is now active as a drummer in the band The Kroisos and has released several single CDs.
Happonen now lives with his wife Niina and his two sons Rasmus and Roni and daughter Noora in Jyväskylä , where he and his former teammate Risto Jussilainen have been running an employment agency since the beginning of the year .