Angel is a 4th Dan Black Belt with a double degree from Melbourne University, Bachelor of Arts (Media and Communications) and Dip of Modern Languages (French). She is currently an Instructor at Hall's Taekwondo.
As a former national level 400m hurdler in Russia, Olympia took up Pole Vaulting when she migrated to Australia in 1997. Within a year, she had become one of the World's best, placing 3rd in the '98 Goodwill Games in New York. In her first appearance at the World Championships in 1999, she won the bronze medal. During the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Olympia jumped a personal best and won silver. In the 2002 Commonwealth Games she went onto win gold and set a new Games Record.Olympia announced her retirement from pole vaulting in 2007 and went on to compete in season six of Channel Seven's 'Dancing With the Stars'.