Alina Angel Chasing New Dream May 2026

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.

“There were mornings I would study meteorology and navigation for four hours, sleep for two, then go work a double shift,” she recalls with a tired smile. “My body hurt differently than it did after a World Championships. But the pain of giving up on a second dream? That would be worse.” alina angel chasing new dream

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. The journey has not been easy

But the emotional shift has been the most profound. In gymnastics, the goal was perfection: a 10.0, a gold medal, a legacy. In aviation, the goal is safety and mastery, a never-ending process. Prize money and sponsorship dried up quickly after

“Everyone asks me if I miss the glitter, the music, the roar of the crowd,” Alina says, sipping a black coffee in a hangar on the outskirts of Bucharest. Her posture is still impossibly straight, her hands steady. “Of course I do. But that dream ended. A new one has just taken off.”