Croatia's Kostelic named skier of year

Defending overall World Cup champion Ivica Kostelic of Croatia has been voted skier of the year by the international association of ski journalists.
Ivica Kostelic wont he men's overall, slalom and combined World Cup titles last season. (Franck Fife/AFP/Getty Images)

Defending overall World Cup champion Ivica Kostelic has been voted skier of the year.

The international association of ski journalists says the 31-year-old Croat skier received more than a third of all votes for the Skieur d'Or, the annual award presented by the association.

Kostelic beat women's overall champion Maria Hoefl-Riesch, world super-G champion Christof Innerhofer and World Cup downhill and super-G champion Didier Cuche.

Carlo Janko picked up the award last year. Lindsey Vonn won two years ago.