Chongli Zhangjiakou, 13 February 2022 (TDI): On Friday, 30 years old Finnish Iivo Niskanen won the 15km men’s classic cross-country skiing at Beijing Winter Olympics 2022.
Niskanen won the gold in the men’s category while competing with the Russian athlete Alexander Bolshunov and Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo from Norway.
#CrossCountrySkiing – Men’s 15km classic#Gold LIVO NISKANEN Congratulations!✨#Beijing2022 #Olympics #BingDwenDwen#TogetherForASharedFuture
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— Beijing 2022 (@Beijing2022) February 11, 2022
Iivo Niskanen, the last minute champion
Iivo Niskanen reached the finish line at 37: 54:8 which made him catch the Gold medal. His Russian competitor Alexander Bolshunov finished the race in 23.2 behind that made him secure the Silver medal. The athlete from Norway, Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo got a Bronze medal.
During Winter Olympics 2022, This was the second medal secured by the Iivo Niskanen. Earlier on February 6, he won the bronze medal in the men’s skiathlon.
Iivo Niskanen won his first Gold Medal at Sochi 2014 competition in the Team Sprint with Sami Jauhojarvi. In 2018 at the Pyeongchang Winter Games, Niskanen won his second gold medal in the men’s 50km.
https://youtu.be/uNBbY04NKrw
After the Prize ceremony, Niskanen said, “actually I felt so strong today and it was under control the whole race.” He also said that victory means a lot to him because he was fourth, 0.2 seconds behind the medal in Sochi, at this distance. However, after eight years he won the first prize at the Olympics program.
Competition Details
This time the cross-country race was in the classic ski style that includes two laps of the 7.5 Kilometer track. Every Olympic cycle the cross country race alternates between classic and freestyle.
Besides Niskanen, his sister Kerttu was also participating in women’s 10km classic race. Kerttu had finished the race just 4 seconds after the Norway female athlete Theresa Johaug. Kerttu won the Silver medal before Niskanen on Thursday.
However, both of Niskanen’s close competitors have won the gold medals in Winter Olympics 2022. Bolshunov in the Skiathlon and Klaebo in the sprint.
In addition, Russian Athlete has won four medals at the 2018 PyeongChang Games however the Skiathlon medal at winter Olympics 2022 was his first Olympic Gold.
