Iivo Niskanen

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Iivo Niskanen
20190227 FIS NWSC Seefeld Medal Ceremony 850 5369 Iivo Niskanen.jpg
Iivo Niskanen in February, 2019
Country Finland
Full nameIivo Henrik Niskanen
Born (1992-01-12) 12 January 1992 (age 29)
Oulu, Finland
Height1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Ski clubPuijon Hiihtoseura
World Cup career
Seasons2011–
Individual wins6
Team wins0
Indiv. podiums15
Team podiums2
Indiv. starts107
Team starts7
Overall titles0 – (6th in 2020)
Discipline titles0
Medal record
Men's cross-country skiing
Representing  Finland
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 2 0 0
World Championships 1 0 2
Total 3 0 2
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2014 Sochi Team sprint
Gold medal – first place 2018 Pyeongchang 50 km classical
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2017 Lahti 15 km classical
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 27 November 2021.

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 two-time Olympic champion.

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 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 team mate 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 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 on 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 a third place in the overall 2019 Nordic Opening.

Cross-country skiing results[]

All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).[7]

Olympic Games[]

  • 2 medals – (2 gold)
 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 —

World Championships[]

  • 3 medals – (1 gold, 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 —

World Cup[]

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
2011 19 NC NC NC — — N/A — N/A
2012 20 NC — NC — — N/A — N/A
2013 21 NC NC NC 40 DNF N/A — N/A
2014 22 50 31 90 — — N/A DNF N/A
2015 23 40 25 78 — DNF N/A N/A N/A
2016 24 66 43 73 27 DNF N/A N/A —
2017 25 14 4 42 10 DNF N/A DNF N/A
2018 26 15 13 24 6 DNF N/A DNF N/A
2019 27 20 13 92 7 — N/A — N/A
2020 28 6 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 31 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 10 8 N/A N/A
2021 29 23 19 84 5 — N/A N/A N/A

Individual podiums[]

  • 6 victories – (5 WC, 1 SWC)
  • 15 podiums – (11 WC, 4 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

Team podiums[]

  • 2 podiums – (1 RL, 1 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
3  2020–21  24 January 2021 Finland Lahti, Finland 4 × 7.5 km Relay C/F World Cup 2nd Hyvärinen / Hakola / Mäki

Awards[]

Personal life[]

His sister Kerttu is also cross-country skier, double silver medalist from the 2014 Winter Olympics, and his other sister is a highly regarded Finnish fashion designer.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Niskanen takes world U23 gold ahead of Sochi". www.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". www.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. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  6. ^ "Olympic cross-country ski medallist scoops Sports Personality of the Year". www.yle.fi. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  7. ^ "Iivo Niskanen". FIS-Ski. International Ski Federation. Retrieved 23 January 2018.

External links[]

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