Emotional victory for Iivo Niskanen on home ground
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Iivo Niskanen has probably taken one of his most emotional wins of his career so far at todays Lahti Skigames. “To be racing among such a packed stadium and crowds out in the woods was an incredible feeling,” said the 30 year-old Finn.
Indeed, thousands of people came to the Lahti Skigames to cheer along the FIS Nordic events. The 15km C race however, was the crowning event, as Niskanen had brought home the most recent Olympic Gold medal from Beijing 2022 of the same competition. Of course expectations were high but that was also, what drove the Classic expert. “I was really nervous at the start,” said Iivo after his race, “and it was a very intensive week since we got back from China.”
Nevertheless, with a grand margin of 17 seconds, Iivo Niskanen takes the win before Johannes Høsflot Klæbo. The winner of yesterdays Sprint had calculated his starting position well at around 5km behind the Niskanen train, that he could ski together with the Finn. Especially in the final lap, the Norwegian stepped up with the speed and knew that a podium was in eyesight.
William Poromaa in the meantime, was waiting in the finish and could barely hold the tension. For the young Swede, it was about setting milestones by reaching the maiden World Cup podium. After Alexey Chervotkin crossed the finish line, it was clear that today was the day for that milestone.
0.4 seconds separated the second and third placed in the end and Johannes Høsflot Klæbo raced to a second place before Poromaa.
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