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Iivo Niskanen

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Iivo Niskanen
Iivo Niskanen in February 2019
CountryFinland
Full nameIivo Henrik Niskanen
Born (1992-01-12) 12 January 1992 (age 32)
Oulu, Finland
Height1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Ski clubPuijon Hiihtoseura
World Cup career
Seasons15 – (2011–present)
Indiv. starts142
Indiv. podiums25
Indiv. wins9
Team starts14
Team podiums4
Team wins0
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 place 2014 Sochi Team sprint
Gold medal – first place 2018 Pyeongchang 50 km classical
Gold medal – first place 2022 Beijing 15 km classical
Silver medal – second place 2022 Beijing Team sprint
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Beijing 30 km skiathlon
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2017 Lahti 15 km classical
Silver medal – second place 2023 Planica 4 × 10 km relay
Bronze medal – third place 2017 Lahti Team sprint
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Seefeld 15 km classical
U23 World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2014 Val di Fiemme 15 km classical
Junior World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2011 Otepää 4 × 5 km relay
Updated on 15 December 2024.

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.

Career

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Iivo Niskanen made his individual World Cup debut on 12 March 2011, when he finished 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 Russia's Sergey Ustiugov.[1] Only three days after winning that gold medal, he finished 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 Russian and Italian skiers 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 Norway's 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 a 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

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

Olympic Games

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  • 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 
2014 22 4 25 10 — 6 Gold
2018 26 — 19 Gold 14 4 —
2022 30 Gold Bronze —[a] — 6 Silver

a Distance reduced to 30 km due to weather conditions.

World Championships

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  • 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 
2015 23 — 26 — — 8 —
2017 25 Gold — — — 5 Bronze
2019 27 Bronze 4 — — 4 7
2021 29 18 13 6 — 6 —
2023 31 — 13 6 — Silver —

World Cup

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Season titles

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

Season standings

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 Season   Age  Discipline standings Ski Tour standings
Overall Distance Sprint Nordic
Opening 		Tour de
Ski 		Ski Tour
2020 		World Cup
Final 		Ski Tour
Canada
2011 19 NC NC NC — — — — —
2012 20 NC — NC — — — — —
2013 21 NC NC NC 40 DNF — — —
2014 22 50 31 90 — — — DNF —
2015 23 40 25 78 — DNF — — —
2016 24 66 43 73 27 DNF — — —
2017 25 14 4 42 10 DNF — DNF —
2018 26 15 13 24 6 DNF — DNF —
2019 27 20 13 92 7 — — — —
2020 28 6 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 31 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 10 8 — —
2021 29 23 19 84 5 — — — —
2022 30 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 73 — 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) — — —
2023 31 63 33 NC — DNF — — —
2024 32 29 15 55 — — — — —
2025 33 6 4 NC — — — —

Individual podiums

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  • 9 victories – (7 WC, 2 SWC)
  • 25 podiums – (19 WC, 6 SWC)
No. Season Date Location Race Level Place
1 2014–15 30 November 2014 Finland Rukatunturi, Finland 15 km Individual C World Cup 1st
2 2016–17 27 November 2016 Finland Rukatunturi, Finland 15 km Individual C World Cup 1st
3 19 February 2017 Estonia Otepää, Estonia 15 km Individual C World Cup 2nd
4 11 March 2017 Norway Holmenkollen, Norway 50 km Mass Start C World Cup 2nd
5 2017–18 25 November 2017 Finland Rukatunturi, Finland 15 km Individual C Stage World Cup 3rd
6 4 March 2018 Finland Lahti, Finland 15 km Individual C World Cup 2nd
7 2018–19 20 January 2019 Estonia Otepää, Estonia 15 km Individual C World Cup 1st
8 17 February 2019 Italy Cogne, Italy 15 km Individual C World Cup 2nd
9 2019–20 30 November 2019 Finland Rukatunturi, Finland 15 km Individual C Stage World Cup 1st
10 29 November
– 1 December 2019		 Finland Nordic Opening, Finland Overall Standings World Cup 3rd
11 1 January 2020 Italy Toblach, Italy 15 km Pursuit C Stage World Cup 3rd
12 18 January 2020 Czech Republic Nové Město, Czech Republic 15 km Individual F World Cup 2nd
13 23 February 2020 Norway Trondheim, Norway 30 km Pursuit C Stage World Cup 2nd
14 29 February 2020 Finland Lahti, Finland 15 km Individual C World Cup 1st
15 2021–22 27 November 2021 Finland Rukatunturi, Finland 15 km Individual C World Cup 1st
16 29 December 2021 Switzerland Lenzerheide, Switzerland 15 km Individual C Stage World Cup 1st
17 3 January 2022 Italy Val di Fiemme, Italy 15 km Mass Start C Stage World Cup 2nd
18 28 December 2021
– 4 January 2022		 SwitzerlandGermanyItaly Tour de Ski Overall Standings World Cup 3rd
19 27 February 2022 Finland Lahti, Finland 15 km Individual C World Cup 1st
20 2022–23 29 January 2023 France Les Rousses, France 20 km Mass Start C World Cup 2nd
21 2023–24 25 November 2023 Finland Rukatunturi, Finland 10 km Individual C World Cup 2nd
22 2 March 2024 Finland Lahti, Finland 20 km Individual C World Cup 2nd
23 16 March 2024 Sweden Falun, Sweden 10 km Individual C World Cup 2nd
24 2024–25 29 November 2024 Finland Rukatunturi, Finland 10 km Individual C World Cup 1st
25 15 December 2024 Switzerland Davos, Switzerland 20 km Individual C World Cup 2nd

Team podiums

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  • 4 podiums – (2 RL, 2 TS)
No. Season Date Location Race Level Place Teammate(s)
1 2018–19 10 February 2019 Finland Lahti, Finland 6 × 1.6 km Team Sprint C World Cup 3rd Hakola
2 2020–21 24 January 2021 Finland Lahti, Finland 4 × 7.5 km Relay C/F World Cup 2nd Hyvärinen / Hakola / Mäki
3 2021–22 13 March 2022 Sweden Falun, Sweden 4 × 5 km Mixed Relay F World Cup 2nd K. Niskanen / Hyvärinen / Pärmäkoski
4 2023–24 1 March 2024 Finland Lahti, Finland 6 × 1.3 km Team Sprint C World Cup 3rd Vuorinen

Awards

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Personal life

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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

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References

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  1. ^ "Niskanen takes world U23 gold ahead of Sochi". Yle.fi. Yle. 31 January 2014. 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. 18 January 2019. 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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