Iivo Niskanen is an important piece for the Finnish national skiing team when they are fighting for places in the 2026 Olympics. Because of the hard land quota, Norway suffers the most.
The Finnish team received sad news on the eve of the Tour de Ski, when Iivo Niskanen said he was skipping the tour due to illness. Finnish men’s coach Ville Oksanen explained to the Swedish newspaper Expressen that it’s the common cold.
According to Oksanen, Iivo Niskanen was extremely disappointed by his illness. The coach also interestingly pointed out the importance of the absence for the whole team.
– This is a hard setback for us. Nations cup (ed. note. competition between countries in the cross-country world cup) is important for us as we fight for places to the Olympics. We have to pull as well as we can with the skiers here, Oksanen said.
Finland’s head coach Teemu Badass also stated to Urheilu even before the Christmas break after the World Cup in Davos, that the venues for the February 2026 Olympics are one of the main themes of the season. Therefore, success in the Nations Cup would be important.
Also with a sick person Perttu Hyvärinen weakened Finland has fallen from second place to fourth in the men’s Nations Cup. In the women’s category, Finland, on the other hand, has moved past the United States from fifth place to fourth. The results of each country’s top three athletes per competition are counted for the Nations Cup.
Men’s country competition:
Women’s cross country competition:
No full lineup in Beijing
Olympic venues are distributed using a very complicated system. The countries are ranked in the Olympic ranking based on the results of the current season’s World Cup, World Championships and Junior World Championships.
Each country can put a maximum of four athletes on one Olympic journey. However, the best countries are allowed to nominate a total of 8 men and 8 women to the Games based on the Olympic ranking. The more athletes that can be nominated for the Olympics, it gives room for play and flexibility for nominations.
Finland did not get the full number of skiers to the previous Olympics in Beijing. Finland could send six men and seven women.
In Beijing, there were problems, for example, in the final distance of the Games with 50 kilometers of freestyle skiing, when there were not enough people able and willing to make the trip. Finland was represented by only two male skiers instead of the full four.
Land spots for the Milan–Cortina D’Ampezzo Olympics will be distributed in the same way as was done for the Beijing Olympics. There is a total quota of 296 skiers for the Games, 148 women and 148 men.
Finland was sixth in the Beijing Olympic ranking.
Based on the men’s ranking, no less than 57 countries got at least one place. Therefore, the total quota of 148 skiers for the Beijing Olympics was filled so quickly that Finland did not even get the maximum quota for sixth place, i.e. seven athletes per gender.
42 countries got at least one place in the women’s category. Finland therefore got seven country seats.
It also matters in the final season
Pasanen acknowledges Niskanen’s value to the team.
– Iivo skis in those places where you get a lot of points. He is practically our top three skier in all normal distance races, so he would certainly collect points.
Pasanen reminds that the season’s other competitions, such as the adult and youth World Championships, are important.
In the country ranking, the best country, both on the men’s and women’s side, gets one place with certainty. Norway is practically number one on the men’s side. The second best in the ranking may not get a place.
– In men, the battle for second place is between Sweden, France and Finland. We have been second and sometimes third. When Niskanen and Hyvärinen are gone, we are probably fourth after the Tour. During the rest of the season, we have to try to raise ourselves back to second place, Pasanen announces.
Medals with a smaller team
Pasanen says that the most important thing at the Olympics is to fight for medals. That’s why a smaller configuration doesn’t hurt so much, even if there is almost no room for breakage.
– If we talk about medals, there are no more medal skiers than six skiers. It doesn’t affect the medals terribly, as was seen in Beijing. Not a single medalist stayed home. It affects the message more when there are not so many substitutes.
If Finland has, for example, six places instead of eight, it is likely that not every individual trip will have full strength.
For Norway, the quota of eight athletes already causes challenges. Potential medalists are forcibly left out of a high-level team.
– Even the eight athletes are not necessarily enough for that. For example, Norway cannot take four special printers, but they have to ski the fourth place with a different man.