Shortly before the tournament start
“Gift from Sweden”: Ski star threatens World Cup out
24.02.2025 – 5:36 p.m.Reading time: 1 min.
Iivo Niskanen fights with a setback shortly before the World Cup start. An illness endangers his entire participation in the tournament.
The Nordic Ski World Cup in Trondheim starts on Thursday with the sprint-without Iivo Niskanen. The Finnish cross-country skiing ace has suffered a disease after the World Cup in Falun (Sweden) and is currently in isolation with his family in Finland.
He will also miss the skiathlon on Saturday-whether the 33-year-old can intervene later in the tournament event remains uncertain. “The disease was a gift from Sweden,” said Niskanen of the Finnish newspaper “Ilta-Sanomat”. He noticed the first symptoms on the journey home of Falun, a few days later the disease broke out fully.
The three -time Olympic champion struggles with his bad luck. “I did everything to get through the season healthy, but I couldn’t have done anything else,” emphasized the Niskanen. In the past three years he has always had to struggle with health problems.
In the current World Cup season, he is in fourth place in the spacer rating and took 13th place in the overall World Cup. His form curve recently pointed up: Both in Ruka (Finland) and in Falun he won the race over ten kilometers. Now Niskanen has to wait and whether a later start of the World Cup is still possible. The tournament in Trondheim runs until March 9th.