Competitors aim to dethrone dominant Mikaela Shiffrin as World Cup ski season set to start

With Mikaela Shiffrin's dominance in the alpine skiing World Cup increasing each year, some of her main competitors don't seem to hold out much hope of beating the American standout for the overall title.

Like Wendy Holdener, who was runner-up to Shiffrin two years ago and third last season.

"I don't think about the overall at the moment. If it could be a battle, it would be great," the Swiss skier told The Associated Press on Thursday, two days before the season starts with a giant slalom on the Rettenbach glacier.

Or Sofia Goggia, who has finished in the top three overall a few times before a fractured ankle halted her challenge for most of last season.

"The goal is to confirm myself on the speed side. But I am not thinking about the overall," the Italian said.

Shiffrin's main challenger

It will likely leave Petra Vlhova as Shiffrin's main challenger again. The Slovakian technical specialist won five races last season and even beat Shiffrin once in the American's strongest discipline, slalom. Vlhova ended the season as the runner-up, but trailed Shiffrin by 801 points.

That was the American's biggest season-ending margin so far. Shiffrin led Ilka Stuhec of Slovenia by 274 points for her first big crystal globe in 2017, and the difference grew to 671 points over Holdener the next year.

What followed was a record-breaking season, including 17 World Cup wins to raise her career tally to 60, third on the all-time winners list of the women's World Cup. While Austrian great Annemarie Moser-Proell is within reach with 62 career wins, Shiffrin probably won't catch Lindsey Vonn this season. The retired four-time overall champions has 82 wins.

Apart from her third straight overall title, Shiffrin won the season titles in slalom, GS and super-G.

"Last season was huge and it was almost too much, so I think I have to be a little bit realistic, too," Shiffrin said about replicating her achievement.

Shiffrin was also voted skier of the year by the international association of journalists for the second time in her career, with the first honour coming back in 2017.

Canadian competitors

There are also some Canadians to keep an eye on. 

Roni Remme is the highest ranked Canadian in the FIS Cup standings at 35. The 23-year-old from Collingwood, Ont., is ranked third in the alpine combined rankings, just two spots behind Holdener. She is also ranked in the top 50 in both the slalom and super-G events.

Laurence St. Germain is a 25-year-old from Saint-Ferréol-les-Neiges, Que., who is currently ranked 10th in the slalom, and has an overall ranking of 46. She is coming off a very impressive season that included a sixth-place finish in the slalom at the world championships in February. St. Germain made her World Cup debut in 2015 and has eight top-15 World Cup finishes overall.

Erin Mielzynski is another top name to watch, as the 29-year-old Brampton, Ont., native is currently ranked 17th in the slalom. A veteran of the Canadian national team, Mielzynski notched four top-12 world cup results in the slalom last season and also placed 10th at the world championships in the same event.

Lack of major medal competition

What separates the upcoming season from the previous three is the lack of a major medal competition. With no Olympics or world championships in February 2020, Shiffrin might choose to step up her efforts in super-G and downhill.

"It actually gives an opportunity to test out a little bit more what I am able to do in speed," she said. "I feel more comfortable to push there because you don't have to be safe for a world championship."

While her build-up to the season has been similar to previous years and her team, led by head coach Mike Day, has remained unchanged, something will be different: mother Eileen, also one of her coaches, won't travel the whole circuit this season as she is also taking care of her 98-year-old mother.

"But I selfishly asked her when she is able to come, to travel and be with me because she has been a huge piece of my success," Shiffrin told the AP in a recent interview at the office of her equipment supplier, Atomic.

"Somebody who is so close to me, my mother is my best friend and also an incredible coach. I think that sets me apart from the other athletes," Shiffrin said. "It sounds a bit selfish but I don't want to let that go."

Goggia's goals

Goggia, the Olympic downhill champion, saw her quest for last season's overall title end before the first race. A broken ankle kept her out until late January, but she returned with a bang, winning super-G silver at the world championship and a World Cup downhill in Switzerland the following month.

"The first races last season were a surprise but when you start with no real expectations, everything can happen," Goggia said. "When you have your back and your shoulders against the wall, you got one chance to do the right thing. So when it comes to being a shooter, I am a good shooter."

Goggia's injury forced her to sit out all but two giant slaloms last season, meaning she has dropped out of the top 30 in the discipline rankings and will get an unfavourable late start position in Saturday's race.

"I am going to start far behind. I really have no expectations but I have been working a lot," the Italian said. "In super-G and downhill I am OK, so I am pretty confident and solid."

Holdener looking for 1st slalom win

Having added a few extra days of speed training to her off-season schedule in Zermatt in her native Switzerland, Holdener might increase her number of starts in super-G and downhill.

"It's difficult to have, like, five disciplines. We will see how the season is starting, which events I am doing in speed. Normally I won't do a lot of downhills," she said.

Make no mistake, slalom and GS remain her main events.

"In GS I am top seven but the best girls are still a little bit in front of me," she said. "Last season sometimes I skied really good and then I took a step back. You shouldn't do that. You should fight until the finish."

One of Holdener's biggest wishes is to finally get that first win in slalom. She amassed 22 top-three results but is yet to win a race.

No skier, male or female, has ever had more World Cup podiums in a single discipline without a win.