Iivo Niskanen

Iivo Niskanen
Full name	Iivo Henrik Niskanen
nation	Finland
birthday	12th January 1992 (age 28)
place of birth	Oulu , Finland
Career
society	Puijon Hiihtoseura
Trainer	Olli Ohtonen
status	active
Medal table
Olympic medals 2 × 0 × 0 × World Cup medals 1 × 0 × 2 × JWM medals 1 × 0 × 0 × National medals 5 × 3 × 2 ×
winter Olympics gold 2014 Sochi Team sprint gold 2018 Pyeongchang 50 km classic  Nordic World Ski Championships gold 2017 Lahti 15 km classic bronze 2017 Lahti Team sprint bronze 2019 Seefeld in Tirol 15 km classic  Nordic Junior Ski World Championships bronze 2011 Otepää Season gold 2014 Val di Fiemme 15 km classic Finnish championships silver 2014 Vantaa sprint bronze 2014 Vaajakoski 10 km freestyle gold 2016 Ruka 50 km classic silver 2016 Taivalvaara 7.5 km classic silver 2016 Taivalvaara persecution gold 2018 Taivalvaara 50 km classic bronze 2018 Taivalvaara Classic sprint gold 2019 Ylitornio 50 km freestyle gold 2019 Äänekoski 15 km freestyle gold 2019 Äänekoski persecution
Placements in the cross-country skiing world cup
Debut in the World Cup March 12, 2011  World Cup victories in individual 4 ( details )  World Cup victories in stages 1 ( details )  Overall World Cup 6. ( 2019/20 )  Sprint World Cup 24. ( 2017/18 )  Distance World Cup 3rd (2019/20)  U23 World Cup 4. ( 2014/15 )  Tour de Ski 10. ( 2019/20 )
Podium placements 1. 2. 3.  Distance races 4th 4th 2  Stage race 1 1 2  Team sprint 0 0 1
Placements in the Continental Cup (COC)
Debut in the Continental Cup January 3, 2009  Continental Cup victories 2 ( details )  SCAN overall rating 20. ( 2016/17 )
Podium placements 1. 2. 3.  SCAN individual race 2 0 0
last change: March 15, 2020

Iivo Henrik Niskanen (born January 12, 1992 in Oulu ) is a Finnish cross-country skier . His greatest successes so far are the 2014 Olympic victories in the team sprint and 2018 over 50 kilometers.

Career

Niskanen first appeared at the 2010 Junior World Championships in Hinterzarten . Over 10 km classic he reached seventh place. In the 2010/11 season he took part in the Scandinavian Cup , but where he only achieved placements in midfield. Nevertheless, at the end of the season he got his World Cup debut in Lahti . He had to end the 20 km skiathlon race prematurely because he was lapped. One day later, he finished 66th in the sprint. At the 2011 Junior World Championships in Otepää , he won bronze with the relay.

In the 2011/12 season he took part in some races of the Scandinavian Cup and junior races. At the Junior World Championships 2012 in Erzurum , he was fourth over 10 km classic. Niskanen took part in the Finnish Junior Championship and won two golds and one silver. At the beginning of the 2012/13 season , 40th place over 15 km was his best result. Participation in the Scandinavian Cup and national championships followed. He won gold twice at the Finnish Junior Championship in 2013.

In the 2013/14 season , Niskanen first competed in the Scandinavian Cup. In January 2014 he won silver in the sprint at the Finnish Cross Country Ski Championships. At the end of January he won gold over 15 km classic at the U23 World Championships in Val di Fiemme . He was then allowed to take part in the World Cup again at the beginning of February and achieved eighth place in Dobbiaco over 15 km and thus World Cup points for the first time. Because of these good results he was nominated for the Finnish Olympic team. At the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi , he finished fourth over 15 km classic and missed a medal by 0.2 seconds. In the team sprint he won gold together with Sami Jauhojärvi . At the start of the 2014/15 season in Ruka , he clinched his first classic World Cup victory over 15 km. Placements in midfield followed. He ended the Tour de Ski 2015 prematurely. At the 2015 World Championships in Falun , he came in 26th place in the skiathlon and eighth place in the relay. In the U23 classification he reached fourth place. At the beginning of the 2015/16 season he came 27th at the Nordic Opening in Ruka . His best placement of the season in the World Cup was 12th in the 50 km mass start race in Oslo . At the beginning of April 2016, he was at the Finnish championships in Taivalvaara over 7.5 km classic and second in the pursuit race. A week later he became Finnish champion over 50 km in Ruka.

At the first World Cup of the 2016/17 season in Ruka , Niskanen clinched his second World Cup victory over 15 km. This was followed by tenth place in the World Cup mini tour in Lillehammer . In January 2017 he won his first classic Scandinavian Cup race in Lahti over 15 km. The following month he was second in the 15 km classic at the World Cup in Otepää . At the season highlight, the 2017 World Championships in Lahti, he won the bronze medal together with Sami Jauhojärvi in the team sprint and the gold medal over 15 km classic. He also achieved fifth place with the relay. At the end of the season, he finished second in the 50 km mass start race in Oslo and came 14th in the overall World Cup and fourth in the Distance World Cup. At the start of the 2017/18 season, he finished sixth in the Ruka Triple . He was third over 15 km classic. This was followed by seven top ten placements, including third place in Lahti over 15 km classic and thus reached 15th place in the overall World Cup and 13th place in the Distance World Cup. At the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang , he won the gold medal over 50 km in classic style. In April 2018 he became Finnish champion over 50 km classic in Taivalvaara .

After finishing seventh in the Lillehammer Triple at the beginning of the 2018/19 season, Niskanen won the Scandinavian Cup in Vuokatti and the World Cup in Otepää, each over 15 km classic. In addition, he achieved third place in Lahti together with Ristomatti Hakola in the team sprint and in Cogne the second place over 15 km classic and thus reached 20th place in the overall World Cup and 13th place in the Distance World Cup. At the season highlight, the 2019 World Championships in Seefeld in Tirol , he won the bronze medal as defending champion over 15 kilometers in the classic technique behind the Norwegian Martin Johnsrud Sundby and the Russian Alexander Bessmertnych , after just missing a medal four days earlier in the skiathlon in fourth would have. At the Finnish championships in Äänekoski and Ylitornio he triumphed over 15 km classic, in the pursuit race over 15 km freestyle and over 50 km freestyle. At the beginning of the 2019/20 season, he took third place in the Ruka Triple. He won the classic 15 km. He finished the Tour de Ski 2019/20 with three top ten finishes, including third place in the pursuit in Toblach , in tenth place. This was followed by second place over 15 km freestyle in Nové Město and in the pursuit in Trondheim on the 2020 ski tour, which he finished in eighth place. At the end of the season he won the classic 15 km in Lahti and finally achieved sixth place in the overall World Cup and third place in the Distance World Cup.

successes

Victories in world cup races

World Cup victories in individual

No.	date	place	discipline
1.	November 30, 2014	Ruka	15 km classic individual start
2.	November 27, 2016	Ruka	15 km classic individual start
3.	20th January 2019	Otepää	15 km classic individual start
4th	February 29, 2020	Lahti	15 km classic individual start

Stage victories in world cup races

No.	date	place	discipline	run
1.	November 30, 2019	Ruka	15 km classic individual start	Ruka Triple 2019

Victories in Continental Cup races

No.	date	place	discipline	series
1.	January 8, 2017	Lahti	15 km classic individual start	Scandinavian Cup
2.	5th January 2019	Vuokatti	15 km classic individual start	Scandinavian Cup

Participation in World Championships and Olympic Winter Games

Olympic games

• 2014 Sochi : 1st place team sprint classic 4th place 15 km classic, 6th place relay, 10th place 50 km freestyle mass start, 25th place 30 km skiathlon
• 2018 Pyeongchang : 1st place 50 km classic mass start, 4th place relay, 14th place sprint classic, 19th place 30 km skiathlon

Nordic World Ski Championships

• 2015 Falun : 8th place relay, 26th place 30 km skiathlon
• 2017 Lahti : 1st place 15 km classic, 3rd place team sprint classic, 5th place relay
• 2019 Seefeld in Tirol : 3rd place 15 km classic, 4th place relay, 4th place 30 km skiathlon, 7th place team sprint classic

Placements in the World Cup

World Cup Statistics

The table shows the placements achieved in detail.

• 1st – 3rd place: Number of podium placements
• Top 10: Number of places in the top ten
• Points ranks: Number of placements within the point ranks
• Starts: Number of races run in the respective discipline
• Note: In the distance races, the classification is based on the FIS.

placement	Distance races a					Skiathlon pursuit	sprint	Stage race b	total	team
	≤ 5 km	≤ 10 km	≤ 15 km	≤ 30 km	> 30 km					sprint	Season
1st place			5						5
2nd place			3		1	1			5
3rd place			2			1		1	4th	1
Top 10		2	18th	1	2	10	4th	6th	43	1	5
Scoring		5	28	1	6th	16	14th	7th	77	1	7th
Starts	2	8th	30th	4th	7th	20th	27	8th	106	1	7th
Status: end of season 2019/20

^a including individual starts and mass starts according to FIS classification

^bEntire race, not individual stages, e.g. B. Tour de Ski, Nordic Opening, season finale

World Cup overall placements

season	total		distance		sprint
	Points	space	Points	space	Points	space
2013/14	130	50.	122	31.	8th	90.
2014/15	169	40.	161	24.	8th	78.
2015/16	85	66.	63	43.	14th	73.
2016/17	567	14th	476	4th	40	42.
2017/18	456	15th	290	13.	86	24.
2018/19	379	20th	305	13.	2	92.
2019/20	1221	6th	840	3.	61	31.

Others

Niskanen's sister Kerttu is also active in cross-country skiing.

Web links

Commons : Iivo Niskanen  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Iivo Niskanen in the database of the International Ski Federation (English)

• Iivo Niskanen in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )