Iivo Niskanen a question mark for Finland’s head coach; Russian skier says altitude “destroyed” him in Davos

In the Davos stop of the Cross-Country World Cup, attention in the Finnish men’s team centered on Perttu Hyvärinen and Remi Lindholm. Both are, according to experts, currently outside Finland’s projected men’s Olympic roster, so Sunday’s 10 km freestyle interval start was a crucial proving ground.

Hyvärinen finished 23rd, the third Finn, behind Arsi Ruuskanen and Niko Anttola. Both Hyvärinen and Lindholm were disappointed. Lindholm, who also incurred a start-time penalty, admitted his day was poor and said his skis were not good enough. After two stress fractures in his lower back over the spring and early autumn, he felt his fitness is “so-so” and questioned whether his return has been too fast. He expects to race a FIS event next weekend in Ristijärvi to seek further selection results.

Head coach Teemu Pasanen felt Hyvärinen is moving “slowly in the right direction,” but acknowledged Lindholm has struggled after a very difficult preparation period. With the men’s roster to be finalized on January 23, Pasanen said there is limited time left, with a few classic-technique races remaining in January. Finland has already named Iivo Niskanen and Lauri Vuorinen; five men’s spots remain open. Pasanen indicated Arsi Ruuskanen is “very close” to being proposed for this Friday’s Olympic update, noting Ruuskanen’s strong 10 km free showings in Trondheim and Davos as the top or near-top non-Norwegian.

Finland’s star Iivo Niskanen skipped the Davos race due to illness and was replaced by Emil Liekari, who learned at 7:00 a.m. that he would start and finished 42nd. Niskanen has had problems since Ruka, including back issues and poor lactate tolerance in Trondheim, but Pasanen still believes he will be ready for the Olympics.

Davos also featured the first World Cup appearances by Russian athletes since March 2022: Savely Korostelev and Darja Nepryayeva, competing under neutral status. In the 10 km free, Korostelev blasted to the fourth-fastest time at the first split but faded badly to 25th, one and a half minutes behind winner Einar Hedegart of Norway. Korostelev said the 1,500 m altitude “destroyed” him, though he remained confident the race secured a men’s neutral quota for the 2026 Winter Olympics. This follows the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling allowing neutral Russians and Belarusians to participate, and FIS indicated Davos was the final chance to claim a single men’s and a single women’s quota place.