Niels Kristian Iversen

Niels Kristian Trochmann Iversen (, born 20 June 1982 in Esbjerg, Denmark) is an international motorcycle speedway rider. He is a seven times national champion of Denmark and was part of the Danish teams that won the Speedway World Cup in 2006, 2008, 2012 and 2014.

Early life Niels-Kristian Trochmann was born 20 June 1982 in Esbjerg, Denmark to Ann Marie and Flemming Iversen. Growing up with older brother Soren, Iversen decided he want to be a speedway rider. His local town Esbjerg had a track where Iversen began to learn his desired trade. Quickly moving up the ranks in Denmark, his first title came in 1994 at the 50cc Danish Individual Championship. Moving up to 80cc in 1997 saw him win his second title at 15 years old. In 1998 Iversen moved up to full size 500cc bikes.

Career

In 2001, British team King's Lynn Stars noticed Iversen and signed him for the last three meetings of the 2001 Elite League speedway season. He was selected for the Denmark squad at the Speedway World Cup in August 2003: ten points from five rides helped Denmark through to the Grand Final where he and Kenneth Bjerre were replaced.

Iversen signed for Swedish club Västervik Speedway in the Elitserien and Wrocław in Poland. Oxford also signed Iversen for the 2004 season as a full-time Elite League rider, after he had earned a 6.57 point average over 32 meetings the previous year.

2005 saw Iversen move to Rybnik in the Polish league and win the Elitserien with Swedish Club Vastervik, as well as being selected for Denmark's World Cup team where once again he hit double figures in the qualification round. The final was won by Poland but Iversen had earned himself a bronze medal for the third time. In Britain, Oxford retained his services for the season, where he won the Craven Shield.

In 2007, for the fifth season in a row, Iversen was selected for his country and was part of the Danish team that finished second to Poland in the World Cup Final at Leszno on 21 July. His Danish team Holsted enjoyed success in the Superleague Championship and in Sweden, Vastervik side made it through to the Elitserien playoff finals. At the 2007 Grand Prix challenge Iversen won the final at Vojens resulting in qualification as a full-time member for the second time in the Grand Prix series.

During the 2008 Speedway Grand Prix season, Iversen crashed in the Swedish Grand Prix and broke his shoulder and at the end of the season he finished outside the automatic qualification places in 12th place. Selected for the World cup again, Iversen and the Danish team earned victory in the 2008 final and giving him his second Gold Medal.

Brought back to Peterborough in 2009, Iversen became the captain of the Panthers and based himself in the city. and stayed with Zielona Góra in the Polish Extraliga. In Denmark, he moved back to Holsted after a year away from the club while in Sweden he moved from Vastervik to Indianerna. On 31 August, Iversen was selected for a wildcard place at the Nordic Grand Prix on 11 September.

In 2011, Iversen left Peterborough and joined the King's Lynn Stars, who had moved up to the Elite League. He remained with King's Lynn for six years.

Over the next few years from 2013 to 2016, Iversen would establish himself as one of the world’s elite riders. He collected the bronze medal on his series return in 2013 and won five grand prix during that period, including a home win at the Parken Stadium in 2014. Also in 2014 he won his fourth World Cup gold medal, overtaking Poland’s Janusz Kolodziej on the final bend of the final heat to seal the title. He would also claim seven consecutive Danish Individual Championships from 2012 to 2018. League success would also come during this period, he joined Stal Gorzów in 2012 and would be a major contributor to title wins in 2014 and 2016, as well as adding a second Swedish Elitserien with Smederna in 2018. He continued to appear in the World Championship until the end of the 2020 Speedway Grand Prix. His last appearance for Denmark came at the 2019 Speedway of Nations.

In 2022, Iversen returned to ride for the King's Lynn Stars in the SGB Premiership 2022 and then returned to Peterborough for the SGB Premiership 2023. In 2023, he helped Esbjerg Vikings win the Danish League. In 2024, he switched back to riding for King's Lynn Stars following the demise of Peterborough.

Major results World individual Championship 2004 Speedway Grand Prix - =23rd (13 pts) wildcard 2005 Speedway Grand Prix - 19th (7 pts) wildcard 2006 Speedway Grand Prix - 13th (51 pts) 2008 Speedway Grand Prix - 12th (59 pts) 2009 Speedway Grand Prix - 17th (20 pts) wildcard 2010 Speedway Grand Prix - 22nd (6 pts) reserve 2013 Speedway Grand Prix - 3rd (132 pts) including Italian & Swedish grand prix wins 2014 Speedway Grand Prix - 11th (87 pts) including Danish grand prix win 2015 Speedway Grand Prix - 4th (120 pts) including British grand prix win 2016 Speedway Grand Prix - 8th (91 pts) including Polish grand prix win 2017 Speedway Grand Prix - 15th (44 pts) 2018 Speedway Grand Prix - 14th (36 pts) 2019 Speedway Grand Prix - 10th (77 pts) 2020 Speedway Grand Prix - 13th (32 pts)

World team Championships 2003 Speedway World Cup - 3rd (rode in heats) 2004 Speedway World Cup - 3rd 2005 Speedway World Cup - 3rd 2006 Speedway World Cup - Winner 2007 Speedway World Cup - 2nd 2008 Speedway World Cup - Winner 2009 Speedway World Cup - 6th 2010 Speedway World Cup - 2nd 2011 Speedway World Cup - 4th 2012 Speedway World Cup - Winner 2013 Speedway World Cup - 2nd 2014 Speedway World Cup - Winner 2015 Speedway World Cup - 2nd 2016 Speedway World Cup - 5th 2017 Speedway World Cup - 8th 2019 Speedway of Nations - 4th