Olympic winner Iivo Niskanen has not rested on his laurels even after the end of the ski season. On Thursday, the ski hero realized his long-standing dream that will allow him to compete in a new sport.
- On Thursday, Iivo Niskanen passed the final test of the trotting license in Kuopio.
- Niskanen is known as a passionate horse sports enthusiast.
- The first start is scheduled to run in Vieremä in the summer.
On Thursday, Iivo Niskanen passed the two-part final exam of the trotting license course in Kuopio. In the final exam of the card course, both the theoretical part, ie the rule exam, and the practical part, ie the folding and driving test, must be passed.
– It was quite nice to successfully end the card course. It was a kind of exciting play before the day, but everything went well, Niskanen laughed in a phone interview with Veikkaus’ TotoTV on Thursday night.
Niskanen said that the card course included a dozen gatherings. At the beginning of the card course, the theory is discussed, after that it is the turn of the volt exercises to pull the carts themselves. According to Niskanen, volt training with the horses was held four times.
– A busy day, there were days a couple of times a week. We got the job done in a month, Niskanen described the course.
In an interview with TotoTV, Iivo Niskanen said that all the course participants had passed the final exam. For his part, he said he was quite confident in passing the exam beforehand.
– Rehabilitation became easier to practice and the horses remained the same, there was good credit for that. The theory test went well, it wasn’t in vain reenailtu. Throwing through.
“It went surprisingly well”
In order to enter the racing driving course, the candidate must be able to harness and ride a horse. Iivo Niskanen described that he was the least experienced of the course participants.
– However, there was a kind of feeling when I got to drive a few times a year, Niskanen described.
– There are horsemen in the family on the mother’s side in her siblings. In my grandmother, from an early age, I got some infection on the horses, but there were several years in between that I didn’t have to deal with the horses so much. Now, for more than a decade and a half, he has been involved in various bundles and horses, has been able to ride in various stables and has also been involved in carts.
According to Niskanen, driving on the card course went well.
– Surprisingly well went in my own mind. When there are working horses, there should be but not disturbing the athlete in the back.
In summer on the racetracks
In July 2018, Iivo Niskanen celebrated the victory of his partly owned Cameron Evo in Einari Vidgrén’s Memorial Race together with his sister Kerttu Niskanen. Ville Toivonen
The newly obtained treatment card is also to be introduced. Iivo Niskanen said that TotoTV plans to compete in Vieremä in his childhood hometown in the summer.
– Vieremä’s Midsummer ravines are to be opened if the cars come there. And at the latest in the Ponsse ravines in mid-July. It’s a village thing, and you have to start there, Niskanen outlined.
Vieremä, ravit, Iivo Niskanen and the forest machine company Ponsse are intertwined in many ways. Ponsse has been a major supporter of Niskanen’s siblings since their junior years, and Ponsse’s founder Einari Vidgrén was known as a sworn pharmacist.
In Vidgrén’s family, Ponsse’s current owner, Einar’s son, has continued his enthusiasm for trotting. Juha Vidgrén. In July, Einari Vidgrén’s Memorial Ride will be run in Vieremä, and Niskanen used the term Ponsse-ravit.
In an interview with TotoTV, Iivo Niskanen assumed that the first race would most likely be found by a coach Matti Nisonen stable. Nisonen works as a coach at Vidgrén’s family premises in Vieremä, and most of his coaches are owned by Vidgrén.
– Hopefully I could get to the competition. We have been open-minded, so many attempts have been made to eat good meat after the season that I can hold on to the reins, Iivo Niskanen laughed.
Coaching is also interesting
Niskanen’s enthusiasm for trotting has been well known for a long time. He is actively following the breeds and has been co-owning several successful horses.
At the moment, it’s quieter for your own horses. Niskanen is a partner Iikka Nurmonen coaching at Bismarck Comery in Sweden, owned by Talli Hiihtoliito.
The group of owners who own a very successful rune consists mainly of Niskanen’s old ski friends. In addition to Bismarck Comery, Niskanen is a partner in his five-year-old title to Goldiivo Hoss, who took the opening victory of his career three weeks ago.
TotoTV presenter Jere Törmänen the question of whether Niskanen was going to start his career in a Bismarck Comery stroller made the owner of the fresh trotting card laugh.
– It knows that if you drive Bismarck, there will be nine buddies in your neck if that drive fails. There may be easier options to get started.
Niskane sometimes had more horse shares, and he thought the number of horses might increase again.
– Certainly to some extent there may be a burn that needs to be acquired. You might also want to think about coaching. He may not get into so much of a day-to-day activity himself, but maybe there’s something in his own coaching philosophy that could be applied to horse racing as well, he spun around.
– Sometimes it would be nice to train with a hobby. There are hardly any opportunities for that in the near future.
In any case, the director’s career is about to begin.
– Outside Raitalat and Torviset, Niskanen laughed in greetings to Finland’s number one drivers at the end of the interview.