Comment: Iivo Niskanen’s decision is the most beautiful thanks to coach Olli Ohtonen

Coach Olli Ohtonen and Iivo Niskanen began their journey together in spring 2013, when Niskanen was a 21‑year‑old talent struggling with illness, recovery, and load management. Back then, he often peaked at the wrong times and saw seasons disrupted by frequent sickness and under‑recovery.

Thirteen years later, Finland’s national team returns to Val di Fiemme with Niskanen heading into what would be his fourth Olympic Games. A gold medal would be his fourth in a row — unprecedented in cross‑country skiing history — and would likely make him Finland’s Sports Personality of the Year for a record fifth time.

Holopainen writes that Niskanen now enters the Olympic winter in a new situation: he will coach himself. He frames this as the ultimate validation of Ohtonen’s work. The ideal of coaching, he notes, is to teach the athlete everything essential and ultimately become unnecessary. In his view, Ohtonen and Niskanen have achieved exactly that. As an analytical athlete, Niskanen absorbed knowledge from his academically distinguished coach and is now ready to apply it independently. For years, Ohtonen has likely not written a plan whose contents Niskanen didn’t already anticipate.

The column recalls Niskanen’s breakthrough at the 2014 Sochi Olympics — team sprint classic gold with Sami Jauhojärvi and a near‑miss for a medal in the 15 km classic — after narrowly making the team amid ongoing load‑management issues. It also references biathlete Kaisa Mäkäräinen and her coach Jarmo Punkkinen to illustrate the coaching ideal of gradually making oneself redundant. By contrast, in other sports relationships such as coach Jarno Koivunen and pole vaulter Wilma Murto, diverging views have led to splits; in Niskanen’s case, Ohtonen remains a sparring and testing partner, suggesting no such rift.

Holopainen concludes that the once‑raw talent has grown into a mature athlete ready to shoulder full responsibility. Niskanen’s choice to self‑coach is, in essence, a heartfelt thank‑you: “You taught me everything — now I can do it myself.”