1. Iivo Henrik Niskanen was born on 12 January 1992 and is a Finnish cross-country skier who has competed in the FIS Cross-Country World Cup since 2011.
19 Facts About Iivo Niskanen
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Iivo Niskanen had his breakthrough at the international level when he won the 15-kilometre classic race at the 2014 under-23 World Championships in Val di Fiemme on 30 January 2014.
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Iivo Niskanen won the race with a 17.4 seconds margin to Russia's Sergey Ustiugov.
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Iivo Niskanen won the gold medal in men's team sprint at the 2014 Winter Olympics with Sami Jauhojarvi.
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At the 2017 World Championships in Lahti, Iivo Niskanen won a bronze medal in the team sprint together with teammate Jauhojarvi.
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Iivo Niskanen led the race into its final stages, but a crash with Norway's Emil Iversen saw Russian and Italian skiers surpass them.
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Iivo Niskanen won his second Finnish Sports Personality of the Year in 2017.
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In January 2019, Iivo Niskanen was awarded his third Finnish Sports Personality of the Year for the year 2018, the first since Marjo Matikainen in 1987 to win the award two consecutive years; the first male since Kaarlo Kangasniemi in 1969.
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At the 2019 World Championships in Seefeld in Tirol, Austria, Iivo Niskanen won a bronze medal in the 15 km classic event.
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Iivo Niskanen is the first Finnish male skier to win the Distance World Cup.
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Alongside these individual medals, Iivo Niskanen won silver in the classical team sprint with Joni Maki, thus winning three medals total in Beijing.
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Iivo Niskanen has medaled in all three Olympics he has participated in.
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Iivo Niskanen is the fourth Finn to win three Olympic gold medals in cross-country skiing, the first to do so since Marja-Liisa Kirvesniemi's triple gold in Sarajevo 1984.
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Iivo Niskanen is one of four Finnish athletes who have won gold in three different Olympics, summer or winter, after Paavo Nurmi, Veikko Hakulinen and Pertti Karppinen.
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Iivo Niskanen's sister Kerttu is a cross-country skier and a four-time Olympic medalist.
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Iivo and Kerttu Niskanen are regarded as great sporting heroes in their childhood hometown of Vierema, North Savo, which regularly hosts festivities following the siblings' Olympic and World Championship success.
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Iivo Niskanen's other sister Katri is a highly regarded Finnish fashion designer.
18.
Iivo Niskanen married his long-time partner Saana Kemppainen in the summer of 2018.
19.
The couple resides in Kuopio, Finland, and Iivo Niskanen currently represents the local club Puijon Hiihtoseura.