Iivo Niskanen took bronze in the combined competition at the Beijing Olympics, but in Planica he fell far from the medal fight. However, Niskanen seemed to be in medal condition, say Urheilu’s experts.
Planica World Cup skiing on channels 22.2.–5.3.2023. See the program and broadcast information of the World Ski Championships in this link.
PLANICA. At the same time as the Norwegian skiers celebrated their quadruple victory in the men’s combined competition in the stadium, Iivo Niskanen gave interviews to the media. Although Niskanen naturally said that he was “a little disappointed” with his result, he did not exude the same disappointment or anger as, for example, Perttu from Hyväris seen at goal. In the interviews, Niskas even broke out into a smile from time to time.
Niskanen was 13th in the men’s 30 km combined race.
– However, there were clear differences in the bow. When talking about medals, you can just look at the calendar to see the difference from third place to fourth place. It’s a really big difference, Niskanen admitted.
The combined competition was Niskanes’ “second trip” at the individual level in the World Championships. Niskanen’s main trip is the 50-kilometer traditional cross-country ski start on March 5. Of course, he also seeks success from the message.
Niskanen is at his strongest in traditional skiing. The first 15 kilometers of the combined race were skied on traditional, and Niskanen came to the ski shift in the lead.
This bodes well for 50 kilometers.
– If he can ski hard and disperse the crowd after four kilometers, then you can’t be worried about Iivo’s speed. Today he was in a bit of a hurry, as he knew that in a moment we would go skiing for free. He had to start feeding right away in the first kilometer and it backfired a bit, Urheilu’s expert Ville Nousiainen said.
– Traditional goes well at Iivo, but if you look at Iivo’s international career in freestyle competitions, top performances have been rare, Urheilu expert Kalle Lassila reminded.
“The traditional part was faster than I expected”
Niskanen’s condition has been a bit of a mystery before the World Championships. The Finnish star’s season started with a coronavirus infection, after which he was out of competitions also due to the addition of a family.
Whether it is due to the corona infection or not, Niskanen has not yet shown his best mood this season.
The best mood was not found even on the opening trip of the World Championships, although Niskanen hoped so.
– However, the traditional part was much faster than I expected. I wasn’t able to make the difference I would have liked as the hose stretched but reassembled. It was a bit of a surprise. I thought that more could have happened, Niskanen said.
– For the feeling, it was okay to ski traditional, but overall the performance was not at a sufficient level, specifically for this type of competition.
The pace is enough, can Niskanen last?
Niskanen is the most important link of the Finnish men’s relay team, and if Finland wants to return to the medal position in this, Niskanen will be required to achieve great success. According to Nousiainen, Niskanen showed in the combined competition that he can ski hard.
– When we started skiing after the first 4 kilometers, everyone else was in a state of yo-yo. As long as he can withstand that speed himself, Nousiainen said.
He reminded that in a 50 kilometer race, Niskas does not have the same rush at the beginning. Niskanen can take 30 kilometers in peace and then go skiing hard.
– This terrain showed that there will be some differences there. It’s suitable for a joint start, because the peesi benefit is not so significant for those coming behind, Nousiainen said.
– For the fifty, the track will have a little more grit when we include the long uphill section. Otherwise, a 50-kilometer race is a completely different race than a 30-kilometer race, Lassila stated.