Iivo Niskanen

Iivo Henrik Niskanen (born 12 January 1992) is a Finnish cross-country skier who has competed in the FIS Cross-Country World Cup since 2011. He is a three-time Olympic champion.

Iivo Niskanen
Iivo Niskanen in February 2019
CountryFinland
Full nameIivo Henrik Niskanen
Born (1992-01-12) 12 January 1992
Oulu, Finland
Height1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Ski clubPuijon Hiihtoseura
World Cup career
Seasons12 – (2011–present)
Individual wins9
Team wins0
Indiv. podiums20
Team podiums3
Indiv. starts124
Team starts9
Overall titles0 – (3rd in 2022)
Discipline titles1 – (DI in 2022)
Medal record
Men's cross-country skiing
Representing  Finland
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 3 1 1
World Championships 1 1 2
Total 4 2 3
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place2014 SochiTeam sprint
Gold medal – first place2018 Pyeongchang50 km classical
Gold medal – first place2022 Beijing15 km classical
Silver medal – second place2022 BeijingTeam sprint
Bronze medal – third place2022 Beijing30 km skiathlon
World Championships
Gold medal – first place2017 Lahti15 km classical
Silver medal – second place2023 Planica4 × 10 km relay
Bronze medal – third place2017 LahtiTeam sprint
Bronze medal – third place2019 Seefeld15 km classical
U23 World Championships
Gold medal – first place2014 Val di Fiemme15 km classical
Junior World Championships
Bronze medal – third place2011 Otepää4 × 5 km relay
Updated on 29 March 2023.

Career

Iivo Niskanen made his individual World Cup debut on 12 March 2011, when he became 69th in a 20 km skiathlon in Lahti, Finland. He had his breakthrough at the international level when he won the 15-kilometre classic race at the 2014 under-23 World Championships in Val di Fiemme on 30 January 2014. He won the race with a 17.4 seconds margin to Sergey Ustiugov.[1] Only three days after he won the gold medal at the under-23 World Championships, he became 8th in a 15 km classic World Cup race in Toblach, Italy.

He won the gold medal in men's team sprint at the 2014 Winter Olympics with Sami Jauhojärvi.[2] Following the pair's achievement, Niskanen and Jauhojärvi shared the Finnish Sports Personality of the Year award in 2014. Niskanen finished 4th on the prestigious 50 km race in Holmenkollen on 8 March 2014.

In the following 2014–15 season, Niskanen won his first World Cup victory on 30 November 2014 by winning a 15 km classic race on home soil in Ruka, Finland.

At the 2017 World Championships in Lahti, Niskanen won a bronze medal in the team sprint together with teammate Jauhojärvi. Niskanen led the race into its final stages, but a crash with Norway's Emil Iversen saw Russia and Italy surpass them. On 1 March, he became the World champion on the 15 km classic event, winning the gold medal 17.9 seconds ahead of Martin Johnsrud Sundby.[3] He won his second Finnish Sports Personality of the Year in 2017.

In the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, Niskanen became individual Olympic champion in the men's 50 kilometre classical.[4][5] In January 2019, Niskanen was awarded his third Finnish Sports Personality of the Year for the year 2018,[6] the first since Marjo Matikainen in 1987 to win the award two consecutive years; the first male since Kaarlo Kangasniemi in 1969.

At the 2019 World Championships in Seefeld in Tirol, Austria, Niskanen won a bronze medal in the 15 km classic event. This turned out to be his only medal at the championships as he finished fourth in both the skiathlon and the relay.

Iivo Niskanen started the 2019–20 season with his third 15 km classic World Cup win in Ruka and third place in the overall 2019 Nordic Opening. He reached the podium four more times during the season, including his first 15 km freestyle podium.

The 2020/21 season was something of a disappointment for Niskanen, who was left without any podium placements. In the WCH in Oberstdorf, he was in his season's best form, skiing a very strong 2nd leg in the relay and placing 6th in the 50 km classic, which he had won in the Winter Olympics three years earlier. However, missing out on a medal and a waxing failure in the 50-kilometre race enraged the ambitious skier.[7]

In the 2021/22 season, Niskanen returned in stronger form and became the first Finnish male skier to reach the podium at the overall Tour de Ski, when he placed third. During the World Cup season, he took three wins and second place, all in 15 km classical. By placing fourth in the 50 km race in Holmenkollen in the absence of his closest rivals Alexander Bolshunov and Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, he secured himself the Distance discipline globe already before the World Cup finals in Falun. Niskanen is the first Finnish male skier to win the Distance World Cup.

The 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing were a triumph for Niskanen, who won his third Olympic gold with a dominant performance in the 15 km classical and claimed a somewhat unexpected bronze medal in the 30 km skiathlon. Alongside these individual medals, Niskanen won silver in the classical team sprint with Joni Mäki, thus winning three medals total in Beijing. Niskanen has medaled in all three Olympics he has participated in. He is the fourth Finn to win three Olympic gold medals in cross-country skiing, the first to do so since Marja-Liisa Kirvesniemi's triple gold in Sarajevo 1984.[8] He is also one of four Finnish athletes who have won gold in three different Olympics, summer or winter, after Paavo Nurmi, Veikko Hakulinen and Pertti Karppinen.[9]

Cross-country skiing results

All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).[10]

Olympic Games
  • 5 medals – (3 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze)
 Year   Age   15 km 
 individual 		  30 km 
 skiathlon 		  50 km 
 mass start 		  Sprint   4 × 10 km 
 relay 		  Team 
 sprint 
20142242510—6Gold
201826—19Gold144—
202230GoldBronze—[a]—6Silver

a Distance reduced to 30 km due to weather conditions.

World Championships
  • 4 medals – (1 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze)
 Year   Age   15 km 
 individual 		  30 km 
 skiathlon 		  50 km 
 mass start 		  Sprint   4 × 10 km 
 relay 		  Team 
 sprint 
201523—26——8—
201725Gold———5Bronze
201927Bronze4——47
20212918136—6—
202331—136—Silver—

Season titles
  • 1 title – (1 distance)
Season Discipline
2022Distance

Season standings
 Season   Age  Discipline standings Ski Tour standings
Overall Distance Sprint Nordic
Opening		 Tour de
Ski		 Ski Tour
2020		 World Cup
Final		 Ski Tour
Canada
201119NCNCNC—————
201220NC—NC—————
201321NCNCNC40DNF———
201422503190———DNF—
201523402578—DNF———
20162466437327DNF———
2017251444210DNF—DNF—
2018261513246DNF—DNF—
2019272013927————
20202863rd place, bronze medalist(s)313rd place, bronze medalist(s)108——
2021292319845————
2022303rd place, bronze medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)73—3rd place, bronze medalist(s)———
2023316333NC—DNF———

Individual podiums
  • 8 victories – (6 WC, 2 SWC)
  • 20 podiums – (14 WC, 6 SWC)
No. Season Date Location Race Level Place
12014–1530 November 2014Finland Rukatunturi, Finland15 km Individual CWorld Cup1st
22016–1727 November 2016Finland Rukatunturi, Finland15 km Individual CWorld Cup1st
319 February 2017Estonia Otepää, Estonia 15 km Individual C World Cup 2nd
411 March 2017Norway Holmenkollen, Norway50 km Mass Start CWorld Cup2nd
52017–1825 November 2017Finland Rukatunturi, Finland15 km Individual CStage World Cup3rd
64 March 2018Finland Lahti, Finland15 km Individual CWorld Cup2nd
72018–1920 January 2019Estonia Otepää, Estonia15 km Individual CWorld Cup1st
817 February 2019Italy Cogne, Italy15 km Individual CWorld Cup2nd
92019–2030 November 2019Finland Rukatunturi, Finland15 km Individual CStage World Cup1st
1029 November
– 1 December 2019		Finland Nordic Opening, FinlandOverall StandingsWorld Cup3rd
111 January 2020Italy Toblach, Italy15 km Pursuit CStage World Cup3rd
1218 January 2020Czech Republic Nové Město, Czech Republic15 km Individual FWorld Cup2nd
1323 February 2020Norway Trondheim, Norway30 km Pursuit CStage World Cup2nd
1429 February 2020Finland Lahti, Finland15 km Individual CWorld Cup1st
152021–2227 November 2021Finland Rukatunturi, Finland15 km Individual CWorld Cup1st
1629 December 2021Switzerland Lenzerheide, Switzerland15 km Individual CStage World Cup1st
173 January 2022Italy Val di Fiemme, Italy15 km Mass Start CStage World Cup2nd
1828 December 2021
– 4 January 2022		SwitzerlandGermanyItaly Tour de SkiOverall StandingsWorld Cup3rd
1927 February 2022Finland Lahti, Finland15 km Individual CWorld Cup1st
202022–2329 January 2023France Les Rousses, France20 km Mass Start CWorld Cup2nd

Team podiums
  • 3 podiums – (2 RL, 1 TS)
No. Season Date Location Race Level Place Teammate(s)
12018–1910 February 2019Finland Lahti, Finland6 × 1.6 km Team Sprint CWorld Cup3rdHakola
22020–2124 January 2021Finland Lahti, Finland4 × 7.5 km Relay C/FWorld Cup2ndHyvärinen / Hakola / Mäki
32021–2213 March 2022Sweden Falun, Sweden4 × 5 km Mixed Relay FWorld Cup2ndK. Niskanen / Hyvärinen / Pärmäkoski

Awards

Personal life

Iivo Niskanen's sister Kerttu is also a cross-country skier and a four-time Olympic medalist. Iivo and Kerttu Niskanen are regarded as great sporting heroes in their childhood hometown of Vieremä, North Savo, which regularly hosts festivities following the siblings' Olympic and World Championship success.[11] They are also the only siblings who have won cross-country World Cup races on the same day and place: this happened on 29 December 2021, when they won the 10 and 15 km classical Stage World Cup events in Lenzerheide, Switzerland. At the season finale in Falun, Sweden, the siblings shared a World Cup podium for the first time when they skied the 1st and 3rd legs of the mixed relay event, where Finland placed second. Niskanen's other sister Katri is a highly regarded Finnish fashion designer.

Iivo Niskanen married his long-time partner Saana Kemppainen in the summer of 2018.[12] The couple resides in Kuopio, Finland, and Niskanen currently represents the local club Puijon Hiihtoseura.

See also

References
  1. "Niskanen takes world U23 gold ahead of Sochi". Yle.fi. Yle. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  2. "CROSS COUNTRY PAIR JAUHOJÄRVI AND NISKANEN REDISCOVER GOLDEN FORMULA FOR FINLAND TO WIN MEN'S TEAM SPRINT". Olympic.org. The International Olympic Committee. 14 February 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  3. "Iivo Niskanen wins men's 15K cross-country ski world title". cbc.ca. CBC. 1 March 2017. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  4. "Olympics: Cross-country skiing – Finn Niskanen takes gold in 50km mass start". Reuters. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  5. "Athlete Profile – Iivo NISKANEN". pyeongchang2018.com. Archived from the original on 28 February 2018. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  6. "Olympic cross-country ski medallist scoops Sports Personality of the Year". Yle.fi. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  7. ""Minulla tökki pito" – Iivo Niskanen paiskoi sukset maalissa MM-pettymyksen jälkeen, katso kuinka Niskanen antoi kovasanaista palautetta huollolle kesken kisan". Yle.fi. 7 March 2021. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
  8. "Hiihto | Iivo Niskanen järjesti yhden miehen näytöksen – kolmas kulta kolmansissa kisoissa peräkkäin". Hs.fi. 11 February 2022. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
  9. "Olympiakultaa! Iivo Niskanen ylivoimaiseen voittoon miesten 15 kilometrillä". Yle.fi. 11 February 2022. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
  10. "Iivo Niskanen". FIS-Ski. International Ski Federation. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  11. "Olympialaiset | Vieremä tarjosi olympiasankareilleen näyttävän kotiinpaluun – Kerttu Niskanen yllätettiin täysin". Hs.fi. 22 February 2022. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
  12. Väänänen, Ville (8 July 2018). "Olympiavoittaja Iivo Niskanen meni naimisiin". Is.fi. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
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