The ski king wisely skipped the 50-kilometer race and returned to his native Finland.
Iivo Niskanen made a wise decision. PASSI FLAME
The kingship of the Beijing Games, the 50-kilometer rumble, changed at the last minute.
Heavy frost and wind forced the organizers to shorten the race distance to 30 kilometers. The decision came just about an hour before the race’s original start time.
The nature of the race will change drastically with a truncation of 20 kilometers. Durability features are still a trump card, but not so prevalent.
A shorter race distance is more away from other athletes. One is guaranteed to be Norwegian Hans Christer Holund. The champion of the 2019 World Cup was one of the biggest pre-favorites of the race.
But is it anymore? At least not so clear. This is also the view Iivo Niskanenstill a defending Olympic champion for a while.
– 28 km of the royal journey. It’s easy to shout from this couch, but I can only imagine how the decision felt about Holund, for example, Niskanen tweeted from the couch at home.
Niskanen, who won the medals in Beijing, made the decision to skip the race well in advance. The Finnish skier returned home on Friday.