BRATISLAVA, Dec. 20 -- After becoming the first Slovak alpine skier ever to win the giant slalom at the World Championship in Sweden in February, Petra Vlhova was presented with the 2019 Sportsperson of the Year award here on Thursday.

The traditional December gala event awards Slovakia's top athletes as selected by the Association of Sports Journalists.

Vlhova's most successful season yet was adorned with her completing the medal collection at the 2019 World Championship by adding silver in alpine combined and bronze in slalom.

The 24-year-old also finished second overall in the 2018/19 World Cup standings, topped only by the American superstar skier Mikaela Shiffrin.

Vlhova attributed her rise to international stardom and becoming a member of the world's alpine skiing elite to hiring a mental coach and changing her way of thinking, and also to trusting a new skiing coach, the Italian-born Livio Magoni who guided her toward the gold medal and World Cup career-high.

She finished the best World Cup season of her career with a total of five victories and 14 podiums.

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