Career
Nikodinov began skating at about the age of five. Raised in San Pedro, Los Angeles, California, she trained at Lake Arrowhead, California. She also trained in Detroit for one season (1999-2000) but moved back to California in fall 2000 due to homesickness. Her coaches included John Nicks, Peter Oppegard, Frank Carroll, Elena Tcherkasskaia, Richard Callaghan, Igor Pashkevich.
Nikodinov withdrew from the 2001 Goodwill Games due to blurred vision in her left eye caused by viral conjunctivitis. Her coach Tcherkasskaia, with whom she was very close, died of pancreatic cancer in November 2001.
Nikodinov missed the entire 2002-2003 season. She dislocated her shoulder in February 2002 and again in September, and then had a virus which sapped her strength. She withdrew from the U.S. Championships after the short program. She had shoulder surgery in February 2003 and was off the ice for seven months. After missing two Grand Prix seasons, Nikodinov returned to win the 2004 Skate America.
While in Portland, Oregon, for the 2005 U.S. National Championships, she and her family were involved in a car accident that killed her mother. Nikodinov did not return to competition following the accident.
Nikodinov coached Bulgarian figure skater Ivan Dinev in the 2005-2006 season, and they currently coach together in the Los Angeles area. Along with her coaching duties, she occasionally skates in shows and was a guest skater on the Stars on Ice tour. The pairs team of Bianca Butler / Joseph Jacobsen and Tenile Victorsen are among her and Dinev's former students that have qualified for the U.S. Figure Skating Championships at the senior level.
Read more about this topic: Angela Nikodinov
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