She was known as an athletic jumper and a charismatic performer, but an erratic competitor and undisciplined student, often arriving late to training and skipping school.

[5] She made her first appearance at the senior World Championships in 1994, as an alternate (after both Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding dropped out of the event), but failed to advance out of the qualifying round.

[6] In late August 1994, Bobek joined Richard Callaghan at the Detroit Skating Club in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

[7] On November 27, 1994, she sustained a deep puncture wound in her neck when she was attacked by a friend's dog, but she still competed at the Thrifty Car Rental International Challenge several days later.

[10] She changed coaches in the summer of 1996, joining Carlo Fassi at the Ice Castle International Training Center in Lake Arrowhead, California.

[12] In the summer of 1998, Bobek left her coach, Christa Fassi, and returned to Richard Callaghan in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

[13] Bobek withdrew from her two Grand Prix assignments, the 1999 Sparkassen Cup on Ice and 1999 Trophée Lalique, after falling ill in early November with an internal infection and a reaction to prescription drugs.

[citation needed] She had a lasting impact on ladies' figure skating because of her signature move, a spiral with the free leg extended very high, which influenced later skaters such as Michelle Kwan and Sasha Cohen.

[5] Television commentators including Dick Button and Peggy Fleming were so complimentary of Bobek's spiral that it was widely copied by other U.S. skaters, setting off a fad for extreme flexibility moves.

Bobek was noted for her poor training discipline,[1] for occasionally smoking cigarettes, for wearing a lot of jewelry while performing on the ice, and for changing coaches at least 11 times during her competitive skating career.

"[15] In addition to Richard Callaghan and Carlo and Christa Fassi, Bobek's coaches included Frank Carroll, Mary and Evy Scotvold,[5] Debbie Stoery, Kathy Casey, Hoon Kim, Barbara Roles, and Robin Cousins.

Along with fellow skaters Michelle Kwan and Tara Lipinski, Bobek appeared in a commercial during the winter of 1998; the spot featured all three performing at an ice rink.

Bobek was cast as a skater who fascinates governor Willy Stark in a scene directly from the original book.

[21] On June 18, 2010, she pleaded guilty,[22] and on August 16 was sentenced to five years of probation,[23][24] 250 hours of community service and a $2,500 fine.

[1] Her friend Todd Eldredge invited her to a Stars on Ice show, where she reconnected with her old coach Richard Callaghan and began weekly training sessions to return to shape.

[9] Bobek returned to performing at the Skate for Love benefit for Susan G. Komen for the Cure in April 2011, hosted by her friend JoJo Starbuck.