Cross-country skiing|Kerttu Niskanen’s award place was the first of the season. Krista Pärmäkoski completed a good Finnish day with her fourth place.
Kerttu Niskanen skied second in the cross-country world cup 20 km competition in Switzerland on Sunday.
Niskanen took his first place in the season with traditional skiing. Tenth place in the Lillehammer combined race was Niskanen’s best cup ranking of the season so far.
– I’m relieved that I was able to ski to the podium, Niskanen said in Yle’s TV interview.
Niskanen thought the Davos race was one of the most anticipated of the season, but because the early winter had been so difficult, he didn’t think he would be in top shape before Christmas. Even more, he expected to be at the top speed at the turn of the year Tour de Ski tour, which is skied in two locations in Italy.
Niskanen was relieved at the success of Davos, especially because he skied two consecutive victories Therese Johaug stayed behind.
– The direction is right. I believe that I can still be in the fight this winter, Niskanen referred to the fight for the prize places in an interview with Yle.
Last season, he skied to victory in three World Cup races. The main competitions of the winter, the Trondheim World Ski Championships, are contested between February and March.
Davos on the track, only the Norwegian was faster than Niska Astrid Öyre Slindwho turned the game in favor of the Finn in the final stretch with a ten-second difference. For Slind, 36, the victory was the first of his career in the World Cup. In recent years, he has competed a lot in the Ski Classics series.
Johaug, who returned to the tracks for this season from her maternity leave, fell to third at the end of her winning streak. Johaug lost to Niskanen by 3.4 seconds.
From Finns Krista Pärmäkoski also succeeded and finished fourth about half a minute slower than Niska. Fourth place is his best of the season, as Pärmäkoski was eighth in the combined race in Lillehammer.
Johanna Matintalo was 11th, two and a half minutes behind the top pace. Katri Lylynperä was 20th, almost four and a half minutes away from the top. Hilla Niemelä was 32nd (–6.28).
The story was updated throughout on December 15, 2024 at 5:09 p.m.