Emily Nishikawa posted a career-best distance result in Davos, Switzerland last weekend.

The Whitehorse cross-country skier, who became the Yukon’s first winter Olympian in more than two decades last season, skied the best race of her career Saturday.

The 25-year-old finished 29th in the women’s 10-kilometre classic ski race with a time of 31:02.7.

Nishikawa, who has been on a steady development climb over the past two years, was skiing in the middle of the pack for the first two kms of the race before cranking up the pace to crack the elite top 30 for the first time in her life.

Nishikawa previously told the Star her goal was to simply score some World Cup points this season, done by placing in the top 30.

“I’m really happy to score my first ever World Cup points,” Nishikawa told Cross Country Canada ski officials following her race.

“I’ve had a really great start to my season and I’m just looking to build off this and keep improving throughout the year. I’ve been feeling really strong on classic lately and I’ve felt better and better with each race.”

Saturday’s race marked the third weekend of competition on the World Cup circuit for Team Canada.

Race organizers put together a massive effort to provide a quality course for the competitors after lacklustre snowfalls.

Snow made in the mountains was trucked down to the race site prior to the event.

The extreme effort paid off as Davos has been awarded next weekend’s races after La Clusaz, France pulled out due to lack of snow.

Closer to home, Nishikawa has added her name to cyclist Zach Bell’s recently-unveiled rural youth sport development program.

The program will now be known as the Zach and Emily Rural Youth Sport Development Program.

The initiative is meant to enable young athletes and coaches in the Yukon accessibility to high-level athletes and coaches in order to broaden their skill networks.

After Bell’s initial announcement at the Sport Yukon awards night last month, Nishikawa reached out to offer her support in building the program.

Any sport organization under the Sport Yukon umbrella is eligible to apply for the program’s funding.

Details are available at www.sportyukon.com.