Alina Angel Chasing New Dream Online
“In sport, you chase a score. In the sky, you chase a feeling,” she says. “The first time I soloed—when the wheels left the ground and it was just me and the plane—I cried in my headset. Not because I was scared. Because for the first time since the Olympics, I felt that pure, unfiltered joy of doing something just for myself.”
“On the competition floor, everything is measured. The music, the space, the time,” she explains. “In the wilderness, flying a small plane, nothing is measured. You read the wind, the clouds, the land. It’s the most free I have ever felt.” alina angel chasing new dream
Her story is already inspiring a new generation of athletes facing the daunting question of “What comes next?” She has started a small blog titled Chalk and Charts , where she documents her training hours and offers advice on career transitions. “In sport, you chase a score
Her ultimate goal is not to fly jumbo jets for a major airline, though she doesn’t rule it out. Instead, Alina Angel is chasing a dream that combines her two worlds: she wants to become a bush pilot and aerial cinematographer, flying supplies to remote communities and filming natural landscapes—a stark contrast to the enclosed, artificial world of the arena. Not because I was scared
As of this month, Alina has logged 147 flight hours and is preparing for her instrument rating exam. The girl who once tumbled across the world’s biggest stages is now learning to navigate by the stars.
The journey has not been easy. The first hurdle was financial. While a celebrated athlete in her home country, Alina was not a global superstar. Prize money and sponsorship dried up quickly after retirement. To fund her flight school, which costs over €60,000 for full training, she sold her competition leotards, launched a small online business selling handmade gymnastics grips, and took a night job as a hotel receptionist.
The world expected her to fade into the quiet life of a coach or a commentator. Instead, Alina Angel is chasing a new dream—one that trades the spring floor for the cockpit.
