Defending overall champion Petra Vlhova built a slim lead in the opening run of a women’s World Cup slalom on Wednesday, positioning herself for a third win in the discipline this season.
The Slovakian skier led Michelle Gisin of Switzerland by eight-hundredths of a second. Slalom world champion Katharina Liensberger of Austria came .27 behind in third.
The rest of the field, led by Gisin’s Swiss teammate Camille Rast in fourth, finished more than a half-second off the lead.
Switzerland's Michelle Gisin competes during an alpine ski women's World Cup slalom race, in Lienz, Austria, Wednesday, Dec. 29, 2021. (AP PhotoMarco Tacca)
Gisin and Liensberger are the only skiers other than Vlhova or Mikaela Shiffrin who have won a World Cup slalom since January 2017.
Shiffrin sat out the event following a positive COVID-19 test that also forced the American out of Tuesday’s giant slalom on the same hill.
Vlhova and Shiffrin shared the top-two spots in the previous three slaloms this season, with the Slovakian winning twice in Levi, Finland, before the American turned the tables in Killington, Vermont.
Austria's Katharina Liensberger competes during an alpine ski women's World Cup slalom race, in Lienz, Austria, Wednesday, Dec. 29, 2021. (AP PhotoMarco Tacca)
In absence of her main rival, Vlhova opened fast but struggled in the steep middle section.
“I started very well and then I felt a little bit like I lost grip, so I was not as fast as I wanted,” said Vlhova, who finished runner-up in Tuesday's GS and could earn her 50th career podium result.
Several racers with low start numbers made it into the top 10: Mina Fürst Holtmann of Norway placed fifth after starting 25th, and Swedish skier Elsa Fermbäck finished eighth with bib 33.
Also, Canadian teammates Erin Mielzynski and Laurence St. Germain placed sixth and seventh, respectively.
No fans were allowed at the event in the Lienzer Dolomites amid anti-coronavirus measures in Austria.
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