Last year it was Olympic bronze – now Iivo Niskanen is chasing his first WC medal in skiathlon

Iivo Niskanens has won WC medals in 15 kilometers classic and in team sprint. Now he gets the chance to ride for a medal in the skiathlon as the national team coach has taken the skiers out for the opening stages.

The Finnish national ski team announced on Tuesday which athletes will ride the opening stages in the Slovenian WC resort of Planica.

On Thursday, both the women’s and men’s sprints in cross-country skiing will be decided – a discipline where the blue-white medal hopes are not very high.

Finland is represented on the women’s side by Jasmi Joensuu, Anne Kyllönen, Jasmin Kähärä and Johanna Matintalo, on the men’s side by Ville Ahonen, Niilo Moilanen, Joni Mäki and Lauri Vuorinen.

Clear medal chance

Expectations are better placed on Friday and Saturday when the skiathlon races are decided. The men’s skiathlon starts on Friday and the women’s skiathlon the following day.

The blue and white men’s team consists of Perttu Hyvärinen, Remi Lindholm, Iivo Niskanen and Arsi Ruuskanen. It remains to be seen whether any of the quartet can perform as well as Niskanen in the 2022 Beijing Olympics – winning a medal (Olympic bronze) in the skiathlon.

Then only the Russian skaters Aleksandr Bolshunov and Denis Spitsov were faster than Niskanen. Now they are not included.

On the women’s side, the quartet Anne Kyllönen, Kerttu Niskanen, Eveliina Piippo and Krista Pärmäkoski are trying to repeat Pärmäkoski’s feat from the WC in Lahti 2017 and the Olympics in Pyeongchang 2018, when she took WC silver and Olympic bronze in the skiathlon.

According to Yle Sporten’s editors and experts on the ground in Planica, the women’s skiathlon is even the second best Finnish medal chance – thanks to Niskanen and Pärmäkoski.

In the skiathlon, the men ride 30 kilometers and the ladies 15 kilometers. The first half of the competition is skied with classic skiing style, the second half with freestyle.