Ivica Kostelic is an alpine skier from Croatia. He will be competing for Team Croatia for a third time in the Winter Olympics at Vancouver this year. He was born in November 23, 1979 in Zagreb, Yugoslavia. Ivica still resides in the same town as he was born but it is now a part of Croatia. He competes in all five alpine events but his strongest events seem to be the Olympic Men's Slalom, Olympic Men's Giant Slalom, and the Olympic Men's Super Combined. The 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City saw Kostelic’s Olympic debut. He finished in 9th place in the giant slalom event. His sister, Janica Kostelic, ended up winning three gold medals while competing in four alpine events. The next year they would become the first pair of siblings to win Gold Cup races on the same day. Ivica made his return to the Winter Games in Torino in 2006. There he won his first Olympic medal, claiming the silver in the combine alpine event. It was uncertain if Ivica was going to be able to compete in the 2010 Olympics. Back pains due to a herniated disc caused Ivica to miss much of the 2008-09 season. After a few months of rest back in Croatia he seems poised to try for another Olympic medal.http://www.nbcolympics.com/athletes/athlete=2080/bio/index.html

The Vancouver Winter Games this February will be Ivica Kostelic’s third appearance at the Olympics. He placed ninth in the giant slalom in 2002 at Salt Lake City. Four later he won the silver medal in the combined event.