Niilo Moilanen (born 17 May 2001) is a Finnish cross-country skier. He is best known for winning a gold medal at the 2021 Nordic Junior World Ski Championships.
Career
editAt the Junior World Championships he competed in 2020, 2021 and 2022 (U23). In 2021, staged on home soil in Vuokatti, Moilanen won a silver medal in the relay and the gold medal in the sprint race.[1][2][3] He was the first Finnish man to win the Junior World Championships sprint, with two women having managed the feat earlier. Moilanen profited from the race being staged in the classical style, which was his strongest style.[4]
He made his World Cup debut in November 2021 in Ruka, collecting his first World Cup points with a 22nd place in the sprint which he then repeated in December in Lillehammer. His break into the top 20 came in the 2022–23 FIS Cross-Country World Cup, again in Ruka when finishing 18th, followed by an 8th place in Beitostølen in December. After Lillehammer, Moilanen managed to finish in the top 30 in every single World Cup race, with 12th being his second best.[1] One of his weaker results came on home soil, in the World Cup closer in Lahti, where he fell three times and was knocked out of the sprint early.[5]
Moilanen competed at the 2023 World Championships, finishing 21st in the sprint and 11th in the team sprint.[1][6] During the 2023–24 FIS Cross-Country World Cup, his best finish was 11th in the sprint in Canmore.[1] In the summer of 2024 he crashed with a cyclist while roller skiing, sustaining several fractures to the face and jaw.[7]
References
edit- ^ a b c d Niilo Moilanen at the International Ski and Snowboard Federation
- ^ Henrichson, Niklas (9 February 2021). "Junior-VM på skidor startade med finländsk succé i sprint – Niilo Moilanen världsmästare efter total utklassning av allt motstånd" (in Swedish). YLE. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
- ^ Långkvist, Carl-Magnus (9 February 2021). "Niilo Moilanen skakade av sig nervositeten – taktisk fullträff ledde till segerjubel: "Måste medge att guldet var en överraskning"" (in Swedish). YLE. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
- ^ Ahlnäs, Mats (9 February 2021). "Finlands historiska juniorvärldsmästare stod tidigt ut med sin talang i förbundets tester – Yle Sportens expert skulle gärna ge sprintkanonen Niilo Moilanen chansen i senior-VM i Oberstdorf" (in Swedish). YLE. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
- ^ Forsblom, Mattias (25 March 2023). "Kostsamma magplask för Niilo Moilanen och Ville Ahonen i sista kvartsfinalen – Maja Dahlqvist kunde ta hem sprintcupen efter svenskt rävspel" (in Swedish). YLE. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
- ^ Ahlnäs, Mats (23 February 2023). "Fallen i lösa snön i Planica var tunga – svenska kritiken mot VM-debutanten Niilo Moilanen efter stavbrott: "Pisstråkigt – det var hans fel"" (in Swedish). YLE. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
- ^ Karttunen, Anu (21 July 2024). "Niilo Moilanen joutui rullalenkillä pahaan onnettomuuteen – julkaisi kuvan sairaalavuoteelta" (in Finnish). YLE. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
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