It’s finally that time of the year. No, we’re not talking about Christmas yet, but the FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup 2024, as its 59th edition is set to take center stage, starting October 26. While Americans are naturally excited as the circuit maneuvers through 4 destinations in the USA this time, what’s got them reeling is 7x World Champion Mikaela Shiffrin’s return to the snowy slopes.

Just last season, 2023-24, Mikaela Shiffrin had to bow out due to her injury in Cortina, falling marginally sort of her 100th win in a World Cup race. But that hardly discounts the fact that Shiffrin is an all-time great in the sport, though she believes, “Some people will consider me the greatest and some don’t even consider me part of the conversation. I think both of those things are perfectly fine.” But before she lifts that crystal globe this year, she’ll have to fend off some mighty competitors along the course.

Mikaela Shiffrin’s Competitors

Lara Gut-Behrami

Well, all Mikala Shiffrin fans will surely be keeping a close eye on this Swiss phenom. With a whopping 1,716 points on board, she topped the overall standing chart last season and consequently lifted the women’s tour title, years after her first in 2016. She also excelled in the Super G and Giant Slalom disciplines, with top-of-the table finishes in each and her first series crown in the latter. “It’s unbelievable, the GS has always been so important to me,” she said, overwhelmed with emotion.

Should she stand against Mikaela Shiffrin, there are a few factors that’ll come into play. First, she is the first 32-year-old woman and the oldest to win an overall Alpine Ski World Cup overall title. Thus, she brings veteran status. Also, she has 45 World Cup race wins, a 2022 Olympic Super G gold, and 2 Olympic bronzes (Giant Slalom and Downhill), attesting to her versatility. And before she crashed, Behrami trailed the American by 420 points, which she covered in the 11 races Shiffrin missed. These factors make her a strong competitor.

Federica Brignone

The Italian skiier Federicka Brignone will be Mikaela Shiffrin’s next close watch. Second from the overall World Cup standings last season, Brignone’s 1,581 on the table placed her a position above Shiffrin. For the past 2-3 seasons, she may have been alternating somewhere in the top 4 positions, but in 2021, she surpassed Mikaela to lift the overall title by 153 points.

A three-time Olympic medalist, her Giant Slalom skills are particularly top-notch. In 2023, she lifted the combined World Championships gold, becoming the pioneer from her country to do that in women’s alpine skiing. And she did in the event where Shiffrin, the defending champion, ended up getting disqualified. Nonetheless, the time gap between the two was under a second. Imagine how close it gets when these two phenoms lock horns.

Petra Vlhova

We’ve all seen Petra Vlhova at peak potential before. Only last season, that fire was extinguished, for the Slovakian finished sixth overall and entered the top three in just one event, Slalom. Backtrack to 2021; she lifted the overall title while Mikaela Shiffrin ended up fourth that season. 2022 and 2023, she marginally trailed behind the Americans, taking second and third overall spots. Thus, she can certainly be a stiff competitor to Shiffrin this time too, given she enters the events.

Sara Hector

Hector is someone who has locked in her participation in the 2024-2025 World Cup. And as promised last time, she’ll be coming in with refined technical skills. The 2023-24 circuit was one where she shined in the Giant Slalom events, stepping on the podium in Jasna, Are, Kronplatz, and Lienz. Overall, it added up to be better than the 2022 Olympic season for her, with 900 good points in her bag. Thus, she’d only be looking to go upwards from this mark, and thus Mikaela Shiffrin’s success plans will surely have an ambitious Sara standing in the way.

Sofia Goggia

This Italian skiier is a regular sight on the World Cup podiums. Just last season, we saw her on the top spot three times, while she bagged four more podium placements too. She’s defied the fiercest of injuries to attain the rank she currently has, with two Olympic medals, including a gold from the 2018 Winter Olympics. Also, there’s no way skiing diehards are forgetting how she won the first women’s speed race of the season, outpacing Mikaela Shiffrin, who was a slow fourth. Well, to outshine the Americans, Sofia would need a lot more of that next season.

Anna Swenn-Larsson

This Sweden star may have started her season with a back injury, but in the World Cup Final, she was just a spot behind Mikaela Shiffrin on the podium. Yes, no one’s forgetting when Shiffrin closed out the Slalom season in Saalbach with a win. And that she had Anna Swenn-Larsson just behind her by a hair—0.11 seconds, if you would say. Anna is also experienced, having been to three Olympic cycles. Thus, with maestro’s like these, Shiffrin is going to have to unfold her top form in the coming months.

Cornelia Huetter

The final 2023-24 downhill race was Cornelia’s for the taking. Well, so was the Downhill Crystal Globe for the season, who ended the drought since 2017 by becoming the first Austrian woman to triumph in the discipline. Fifth in the overall standings and leading in the Downhill, she wrapped up 2023-24 as the best season of her life. After such a special season, she’ll have her spirits high if she enters the competition this year. And will be another one of these stars that Mikaela Shiffrin would have navigated her wins through. Can you think she can snatch wins from the jaws of such might competitors? Let us know below!