PLANICA. Iivo Niskanen the look changed completely in two days. After Friday’s message, joy bubbled from the Kuopio native’s face and speech when he finally reached his good and long-time friends, Cross mat Hakolan and Perttu Hyvärinenwith a relay medal.
On Sunday, after the final race of the World Championships – Niskanen’s main trip – he walked down the media interview corridor looking dull. If Niskanen was angry, he was above all angry with himself and would certainly have wanted to be somewhere else at that very moment.
Legendary stories are told about Niskanen’s will to win, but there is at least a grain of truth in them. He really hates losing.
Even after the combined race, Niskanen talked relaxed, because he knew he was in good shape for the final leg. However, the sixth place in Planica’s journey to royalty was nowhere near what Niskanen was aiming for, as he went on to win.
A broken season didn’t give him good food for the season’s prestigious competitions. He got sick with corona just before the opening of the World Cup season, and hasn’t competed very much since then.
However, Niskanen did not want to explain anything about his illness. According to him, it has only affected betting on the World Cup.
– Of course, there can be a single crash, but it was not due to fitness factors, Niskanen said, referring to his fall in the 10 km free race in Les Rousses.
– Today it was here, everything that came off. It was all about this one card, but tactically it was a stupid ski.
He looked around as he dropped his sentences. He then took a moment to catch his breath before continuing as if to underline:
– There is nothing to complain about, that I could have done something better.
Good: Edges rounded
However, Iivo Niskanen has experienced one big change this season: he has become a father for the first time. According to Perttu Hyvärinen, this has made Finland’s number one stick softer off the slopes.
– It has become a bit like that the edges have rounded a bit, and we have new things to talk about on the trip here, Hyvärinen said with a broad smile.
Hyvärinen is the godfather of Niskanen’s child, and he stated that he was privileged to hear news from Niskanes from the home front.
– It’s not just work friends anymore, but really friendship and warm things. It’s about more than just skiing.
According to Ristomatti Hakola, Niskanen is still the same cheerful velikulta making waves to his friends as before. According to Hakola, Niskanen is also good at cheating on the track, just like he did in the final leg of Planica when he pretended to be tired.
– He really is an actor, he is never tired. He can do that, Hakola laughed.
Niskanen himself does not sign that he has softened as a result of fatherhood or that his values have changed.
– The values have always been the same, he assured.
The world’s fastest diaper changer
If fatherhood has softened Iivo Niskas based on his teammates, it has only done so in a civilian way. On the track, he is still as ambitious as before.
– Even though Iivo has had such a paternal touch, he hasn’t changed otherwise. You can see from him that today is his main trip and he is focused on that. He is still just as tough an athlete, Hyvärinen said, and this season’s member of the national team also agrees Ville Ahonen.
When Iivo Niskanen told Urheilu’s friend book that he was the world’s fastest diaper changer, it sounded very Iivo Niska-like, according to Ahonen.
– He’s heard the same thing once. Of course, I haven’t seen him change a diaper, so it’s hard to say if he is. But I can well imagine for Iivo that it is also a bit like a competition for him. And I’m sure he’s fast at that too, Ahonen grinned.
– When Iivo starts to focus on something, he becomes quite good then, Hyvärinen nodded.
A clear character trait from a young age
The head coach Teemu Pasanen according to Niskas, fatherhood has brought more calmness, but at the moment of defeat it is less often found. Pasanen smiled that hating losing has been a character trait of Niskanes since he was young.
– On the other hand, if you’re going to win someday, you have to be like that, Pasanen said.
In Pasanen’s opinion, the broken season didn’t show up in Niskas, and he didn’t seem worried in any way during the season. However, he believed that the idea that this has not been a completely normal season was lurking in the background.
Niskanen lost the 50 km race by less than ten seconds and the medal by just over eight seconds. According to Pasanen, the race went according to the script and the skiers who were expected to be there were at the top.
However, Niskanen was not able to do what he has been so good at so often, i.e. knocking his competitors off his heels with a fast pace. However, according to Pasanen, Iivo Niskanen was in medal condition.
– You can’t be sixth here if you’re not in very good shape, Pasanen said.
– But it depends on such small things.