Gillings wins top Olympic honour

Gillings is currently ranked sixth in the world

Snowboarder Zoe Gillings has been named the British Olympic Association's (BOA) snowsport athlete-of-the-year for the second consecutive season.

"I'm absolutely stoked, it's a great honour to win it for the second year running," said the 23-year-old.

"Knowing that people believe in me gives me a lot of confidence ahead of the Vancouver games."

Gillings is ranked sixth in the world and has set her sights on a gold medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

The award is even more impressive given the Manx snowboarder was told she might never snowboard again following a bad crash in 2005.

The award recognises the drive, determination and commitment of our elite athletes Sir Clive Woodward

Sir Clive Woodward, the BOA's elite performance director said: "The presentation of the Olympic athlete-of-the-year award recognises the drive, determination and commitment of elite athletes across all of our Olympic sports.

Gillings is currently in Bad Gastein, Austria for the second European leg of the World Cup tour on 10 January.