Iivo Niskanen avoided corona by all possible means for two and a half years. Now he hopes that the corona infection will not have long-lasting effects that affect sports.
The opening of the World Cup is often a hectic time for an athlete, but Iivo Niskanen the rush disappeared in an instant when two lines were found in his corona test.
Niskanen had already managed to drive to Ruka’s cottage on Tuesday evening, but had not had time to meet the members of the national team or visit the maintenance truck to greet the guardians, and thus did not expose others.
Niskanen has been able to successfully avoid the corona virus for two and a half years, so it was sad to get sick for a reason.
– There can’t be a much worse moment than getting infected with the corona virus for the first time right at the beginning of the season, but there’s nothing you can do about it now. At some point, apparently, it just had to be obtained, Niskanen stated.
Since the early days of the corona, Finnish skiing has done everything it can to avoid getting infected. Even now, he has used an FFP2 mask everywhere and, if necessary, he has used rubber gloves.
Last Sunday, he skied quite well in the practice race in Olos, and at that time there were no signs of illness.
Niskasen had strange sensations on Tuesday evening and on Wednesday morning a slight sore throat, pressure in the chest, muscle pain and fever. Otherwise, the symptoms have been moderate.
– I hope that these latter variants would already be such that they would not have long-lasting effects. For example, not being able to play sports anymore, Niskanen said and admitted that the more severe cases of the disease that appeared at the beginning of the corona were worrying.
Even though Korona seems to have eased over time, Niskanen has still taken it seriously. Especially when there have been infections in the team, such as last winter before the Tour de Ski and the Beijing Olympics.
– They are stressful situations mentally, when we start to be in front of their main competitions. Even before the arrival of the corona virus, I tried to avoid all possible diseases, and in fact, I haven’t really been sick in many years.
There is still time for the main goal
The World Cup will continue closely after Ruka, as three race weekends are scheduled before the Tour de Ski at the turn of the year. Niskanen does not yet know when he will be able to open his World Cup competition season, but he is not going to rush it. It all depends on how his disease progresses and when he can return to normal training.
– I will definitely go to the mat tests to verify my hitting ability and situation. From that I can then see where we are really going. Now I’m trying to rest first, and I don’t want to prolong and worsen the situation under any circumstances.
Fortunately for Niskanen, there is still plenty of time for the World Championships in Planica, and his main distance, a 50-kilometer traditional skiing joint start race, will not be skied until March 5. Ruka has usually been an important competition for the Kuopio native, which he has aimed for.
Missing Ruka and other World Cup competitions also inoculates Niskanen’s chances in the overall World Cup competition. For this season, the International Skiing Federation changed the scoring of the World Cup, so that more points are awarded and the importance of the victory decreases.
– The current points calculation system is so merciless that when races are missed, the entire World Cup season goes to waste. The World Cup is still the main competition, there is still time.
– Now we just have to sensibly move forward with our fitness, and hopefully I will be able to train until then, above all, completely healthy.
Before Niskanen leaves Get it– with his wife to drive home from Ruka, he still needs to organize things a bit on the equipment side.
– I have to arrange so that the equipment is waiting in the truck when I return to the World Cup tour. Someone needs to go to the yard to get equipment and bring me training equipment so that I can train in peace.
broadcasts the Ruka World Cup on its channels, TV1, TV2 and Puhe. The first race broadcast starts on Friday on TV1 at 10:55 a.m. with sprint qualifying. Puhe will be heard at 12:05. More detailed television broadcast times can be found at Areena and teletext on page 355.