Bratislava, Dec 24 (IANS): Anastasiya Kuzmina, a Slovak biathlete of Russian origin, who won the gold medal in the 7.5 km sprint at the Winter Olympics in Sochi in February, has been voted as Athlete of the Year in Slovakia by sports journalists.

Kuzmina, who received the award at a gala event in the new Slovak National Theater Tuesday night, triumphed ahead of 2014 Stanley Cup champion and NHL playoffs top scorer Marian Gaborik and tennis player Dominika Cibulkova, who reached the final of the Australian Open in January and lost to Chinese Li Na, reports Xinhua.

The Slovak national football team was named the Team of the Year. According to FIFA statistics, the Slovak team was the eighth best team in the world in 2014 and the best team that didn't play at the World Cup in Brazil.

"It's more about the players than the coach. I think that the lads had a fantastic year. There hasn't been a similar one since Slovakia became independent in 1993. The home victory over the very strong Spain, the triumphs in Ukraine, Belarus and Macedonia and the first place in a difficult Euro qualifying group are all beautiful results," said Slovak national football team head coach Jan Kozak.