<p>ÅRE, SWEDEN — Petra Vlhova led rival skier Mikaela Shiffrin by nearly half a second in the first run of a slalom race Friday, putting the Slovakian in position to reclaim the overall World Cup lead.</p>
<p>Entering the last weekend of racing before the season finals, Vlhova trailed Lara Gut-Behrami — who does not race slaloms — by 36 points in the overall standings.</p>
<p>Vlhova stood 0.41 seconds ahead of Shiffrin, with recently crowned world champion Katharina Liensberger 0.57 back in third.</p>
<p>Vlhova could also strengthen her lead in the slalom standings, where she leads Shiffrin by 45 points.</p>
<p>Shiffrin was 0.19 faster than Vlhova at the first checkpoint on the Olympia course but then lost time the rest of the way down.</p>
<p>Swiss teammates Wendy Holdener and Michelle Gisin stood fourth and fifth, respectively.</p>
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