Nicole BOBEK

Nicole Bobek competed in figure skating for the United States at the 1998 Winter Olympics. At the US Senior Nationals, she was the champion in 1995, and was on the podium in third place in 1994, 1997, and 1998. Bobek also won a bronze medal at the 1995 World Championships. Immensely talented but with poor practice habits, and very erratic, her inconsistency cost her many titles. She famously changed coaches several times. She won the Vienna Cup in 1992 and was second at Trophée Lalique in 1999, the final year of her amateur career.

After the end of her competitive career, Bobek toured with Champions on Ice through 2004, and also appeared in several other ice shows. She later admitted to drug addiction, notably with methamphetamine, and had many legal problems. In 2010 she pled guilty to a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, and received a sentence of five years probation, 250 hours of community service, and a small fine.

At about that time, Bobek discovered the circus and starting learning circus skills, notably on the trapeze and the lyra, studying at the South Florida Circus Art School. She later began touring with Rainbow Circus Miami, where she met her future husband, Pedro Santos Leal, one of the other performers.