Gina del Rio Scores Career-Best 12th in Davos World Cup Skate Race

Gina del Rio capped a standout weekend at the Cross-Country Skiing World Cup in Davos, Switzerland, with a career-best 12th place in Sunday's 10km individual skate race, her first top-15 in a distance event.

Starting with bib number 9, the Andorran briefly led the field and held the hot seat for an extended period before crossing the line in 27:26.5, 51.6 seconds behind winner Karoline Simpson-Larsen of Norway (26:34.9). Sweden's Moa Ilar earned silver (+2.1 seconds) and Norway's Astrid Oeyre Slind took bronze (+2.2). Del Rio raced from behind, posting the 17th-fastest split at 1.7km and dropping to 20th at 2.7km before climbing to 14th by mid-race, a position she held through the 6.7km and 7.7km marks en route to her final placing.

The result marks her fifth career World Cup top-15 overall and surpasses previous 10km skate efforts of 52nd in Oslo last March and 28th in Trondheim on 7 December. It followed Saturday's 13th in the sprint, where she qualified 17th (2:44.89, 6.30 seconds off Jonna Sundling's pace) before taking third in a competitive quarter-final heat marred by a rival stepping on her pole, costing her by 0.05 seconds.

Del Rio solidified her under-23 overall lead with 195 points after three rounds (Ruka, Trondheim, Davos), ahead of Norway's Milla Grosberghaugen Andreassen (136) and Italy's Maria Gismondi (111). She also tops the under-23 sprint standings.

"The race went really well, with great sensations and skis," Del Rio said. "I paced it smartly and ended up 12th—our best World Cup distance result—so we're very satisfied with the weekend."