Iivo Niskanen’s goal is to ski the Games on a large scale this season. Coach Olli Ohtonen considered Niskanen’s season opener a good bet.
Iivo Niskanen opened his competitive season in the Olos Artillery Games convincingly, when he took an overwhelming victory in the 10-kilometer traditional skiing intermediate start race. Niskanen had also registered for Sunday’s freestyle skiing race, but did not appear at the starting line.
Niskanen’s coach Olli Ohtonen according to the situation there is no need to worry.
– Iivo made the decision himself on the day of the race. He is an experienced skier and can assess the situation, Ohtonen said.
– We talked the night before and looked at the forecast for Sunday. That if it’s getting cold, there’s no reason to go skiing when Saturday’s result was so good from a performance perspective.
On Sunday, the frost quickly reached ten degrees.
In Saturday’s traditional race, Niskanen led the race from the first meters to the finish. At the same time, Ohtonen, who was organizing the Winter Games in Kainuu, didn’t have time to see his protégé’s excerpts other than based on the intervals, but that said a lot. The experienced coach’s comment about the winning ski was “a good bet” and “a suitable opening of the season”.
According to Ohtonen, the Olos track has a similar characteristic that is also highlighted on many other tracks, i.e. easy sections you have to be able to ski really hard. Niskanen succeeded well in this, but we must continue to focus on them. In Ohtonen’s opinion, the time difference to those coming from behind was promising, and Niskanen was able to hit a high-speed flat push and ski hard on a fast, high-performance track. The good starting speeds also warmed the coach’s mind.
– This indicates that the training has been successful. In the big picture, metabolism is a really important thing, skiing is bearable, and he doesn’t have too much load on his body. Based on these metrics, the situation is good. This bodes well for Ruka’s Saturday, Ohtonen said, referring to the traditional 10-kilometer time trial.
Will we see Niskanen next weekend in the sprint?
Iivo Niskanen prepared for this winter outside the national team. The personal training plan differed somewhat in its rhythm from the national team’s program, but certain pillars that were proven in previous years remained in the program. Such were, for example, the roller skiing competitions held in Norway, whose competitive results were weaker than desired due to equipment breakdowns and health problems.
The three-week high-altitude camping in Livigno and Ramsau, on the other hand, was successful, even though Niskanen could not ski on the Ramsau glacier due to the conditions.
In terms of skiing technique, Niskanen has practiced traditional and freestyle quite evenly.
– I would say that in basic training, free and traditional are 50–50. From the point of view of intensive training, there is a hint of tradition, but the time off has come exactly according to plan, Ohtonen said.
The reason for the equality is that Niskanen plans to ski large-scale distances in the World Cup in the coming season with both types of skiing. He had the same goal last season as well, but the corona infection right before the Ruka World Cup mixed up plans and goals at that time.
Next weekend, at the Ruka Suomen Cup, Niskanen is scheduled to participate in the traditional 10 km race on Sunday, in addition to the traditional sprint on Saturday. Sprint is not usually part of Niskanen’s travel selections.
– Based on that, reports are also made regarding the World Cup, Ohtonen stated.
Important competitions from the beginning to the end of the season
Since there are no value competitions in skiing this season, Niskanen is able to invest differently in the World Cup competitions. According to Ohtonen, there are a few fixed targets in the competition calendar, from which results are sought.
In addition to the very important Ruka World Cup, there is a weekend in Trondheim in December. This weekend serves as a preliminaries for next season’s World Championships, and the program includes the 10 km traditional intermediate race, which is important to Niskanen, and the only combined race of the season.
In Ohtonen’s opinion, the Tour de Ski program is overall good for Niskanen, because there are three good traditional normal trips. Salpausselä’s 20-kilometer traditional cross-country time trial is also an important competition for Niskanen.
At the end of the season, however, there is one important competition, the victory of which Iivo Niskanen craves more than anything else: the Holmenkollen 50 km traditional cross-country skiing competition.
– Iivo has an award place there (second place from 2017), but that great success is missing. It is perhaps the finest single World Cup competition, Ohtonen reminded.