Angela Nikodinov: Looking Back

[silverpond]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angela_Nikodinov

Here's a link to a brief "wiki write-up" on US skater Angela Nikodinov, who was a top competitor during the 1990s and competed under the shadows of Michelle Kwan, Tara Lapinski, and Nicole Bobek.

Angela had great jumps - tight, clean and flowing - and she could always be counted on to place in the top five. Unfortunately for her, she shared the ice with Kwan, Lapinski, and Bobek, so she never had the opportunity to break out of the pack and reach the top.

Her triple lutz was really gorgeous, IMHO.

 

[MKFSfan]

....as was her layback:
http://data.whicdn.com/images/6623779/angela_nikodinov_2_large.jpg

 

[silverpond]

....as was her layback:
http://data.whicdn.com/images/6623779/angela_nikodinov_2_large.jpg

Yes, absolutely!!! It was gorgeous.

 

[jcoates]

I've said this about Angela before, but I miss what her pure, clean lines and more straightforward style contributed to the sport.

 

[reynycpr]

http://data.whicdn.com/images/6623779/angela_nikodinov_2_large.jpg

2001 Worlds SP - Just For You

 

[Vash01]

I've said this about Angela before, but I miss what her pure, clean lines and more straightforward style contributed to the sport.

ITA. Her technique was so good! Her jumps were done correctly, and her layback spin was among the very best. I miss the simplicity of her skating. She would not have done well in the COP, but I loved her musical interpretation after she went to Elena.

My two most favorite Angela numbers are:

2001 US Nationals LP (Sleeping beauty)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGsMDXLyXxs

2002 US Nationals LP (Giselle)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wb3t7MAvT-U

 

[Olympia]

I love her too. She was wonderful.

 

[Stasi]

i think she was a bit too fat in comparison with others,and she didnt have personality....my opinion.

 

[jcoates]

i think she was a bit too fat in comparison with others,and she didnt have personality....my opinion.

Angela was NOT fat. She had the fit body of an adult woman. She was no teeny swizzel stick. She had a powerful frame and an entirely different body type from what is most common among female skaters today. She was squarely in the mold of other female skaters like Joanne Rochette, Slutskaya, Ito, Debbi Thomas, Liz Manly etc. Not thin and lithe, but built more like a gymnast.

As for personality, she was shy and reserved and lacked a clear point of view early in her career. After teaming with Elena, she blossomed into a mature woman with a defined sense of elegance and grace. Was she over the top with unnecessary dramatics? No, but that's what made her special.

 

[Vash01]

i think she was a bit too fat in comparison with others,and she didnt have personality....my opinion.

Fat??? I would love to be as 'fat' as her. She had a lovely, trim, well developed woman's body.

After she went to Elena T. she became very expressive on the ice. Before that, she was mainly a technical skater. Once she got deep into herself, she became a wonderful artist on the ice.

 

[Tonichelle]

I've seen Angela in person, she's anything but fat.

 

[iluvtodd]

Fat??? I would love to be as 'fat' as her. She had a lovely, trim, well developed woman's body.

After she went to Elena T. she became very expressive on the ice. Before that, she was mainly a technical skater. Once she got deep into herself, she became a wonderful artist on the ice.

I've seen Angela in person, she's anything but fat.

:thumbsup:

Fat, Stasi? You've got to be kidding!

 

[Olympia]

A few years ago on Project Runway, Tim Gunn (whom I otherwise admire) once described a size-6 model as "plus-sized." His reasoning was that 6 is above zero rather than below zero. (Yes, there is a size zero.) If that's the way we look at life, and at ourselves if we're women, woe betide us.

If anyone wants all skaters to conform to a certain physical type, he or she will have to wait for the android skaters to be perfected in the lab. It might take awhile, but then we can program perfect models' features on all the girls and soap opera actors' faces on the guys, and we can all watch eighty-pound girls who never go through adolescence do quintuple jumps and land perfectly every time. I'm sure it will be >yawn< a thrill.

 

[burntBREAD]

If this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGsMDXLyXxs) is "fat", then I don't want to know what you think 90% of the population is.

 

[periperi]

It's pretty obvious that this person is just trying to get under our skins.

Anyhoo, I miss Angela. Is she still coaching?

 

[Olympia]

I imagine we'll know if she's still coaching when a cluster of girls with dazzling layback spins shows up in junior and then senior competitions.

Seriously, I hope someone here can supply us with up-to-date information on her, because I'd love to know she's doing well. She was a splendid skater with a few terribly tough breaks, and I always felt glad to see her when her programs were televised.

 

[dorispulaski]

She married Ivan Dinev in 2008.

She's on facebook
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Angela-Nikodinov/112361112108477

and its the real one, because she is friends with Ivan Dinev & Alissa Czisny

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ivan-Dinev/104009436302651

Ivan's says he and Angela are coaching together.

and here there are in CA:
http://2-0-0-0.com/skatingedge/2009/Coaches.htm

 

[Tonichelle]

her hair is so pretty... ugh... it's not fair lol

 

[jcoates]

Thanks for the info Doris. It's nice to see that she has apparently settled into a happy life after competing. She deserves it.

 

[Olympia]

Delightful to hear, Doris! Thanks for the update.

Dinev is also Bulgarian; I think he actually skated for Bulgaria, didn't he? Did pretty well, too. (I have Bulgarian friends, so I always notice this. I'll have to pass this news on to them.) And I see that she's fluent, so they can talk in and out of both their languages.

I agree about her hair. Wow. Even my dolls don't have hair that glorious.