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Mohini Bhardwaj
Mohini Bhardwaj (born September 29, 1978) is an American retired artistic gymnast who competed at the 1997 and 2001 World Championships and earned a silver medal with the American team at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and is a member of the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame. She is the first Indian-American gymnast, and the second Indian-American athlete in any sport, to medal at the Olympics.
Bhardwaj was born in Philadelphia to parents Indu and Kaushal. She has one younger brother, Arun. Her mother, Indu, is a Russian from New York who converted to Hinduism and teaches yoga; her father is from India and is a physician in Cincinnati. Bhardwaj was raised in the Hindu faith and is vegetarian.
She began taking gymnastics classes at the age of four in her hometown, Cincinnati, where she attended Seven Hills School. At the age of 13, she moved to Orlando to train at Brown's Gymnastics. When she was 16, her coach, Alexander Alexandrov, moved to Houston to open a new facility for Brown's, and Bhardwaj followed without her parents. Living alone in a Texas apartment, her gymnastics suffered.
At the 1996 U.S. Olympic Trials, Bhardwaj finished in 10th place, missing a spot on the team by 0.075. She continued training after the Olympics, but at the 1997 U.S. Nationals, NBC commentators noted that she was only competing at her parents' insistence. Still, she finished third in the all-around at Nationals and earned a spot on the 1997 World Championships team. At Worlds, she was the only American besides Kristen Maloney to qualify for an individual event final, the vault, where she placed fifth.
Bhardwaj's reputation as a wild child scared off some NCAA recruiters, but Valorie Kondos Field, the head coach for the UCLA Bruins gymnastics team, awarded her a full scholarship. Her partying continued through her freshman year, prompting Kondos to issue her an ultimatum to remain on the team.
By 1999, Bhardwaj had changed her ways and became a key member of the Bruins, with increased difficulty on all four events. During her time at UCLA, Bhardwaj earned All-American honors 11 times, earned 23 individual titles, and was the first gymnast from UCLA to be a four-time All-American on the uneven bars. As a senior, she won both the AAI Award and the Honda Sports Award. She was inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame in 2013.
After ending her UCLA career, Bhardwaj returned to elite competition. At the 2001 National Championships, she won the vault title and placed third in the all-around. She was named to the American team for the 2001 World Championships in Ghent, Belgium, where she contributed to the U.S. squad's bronze medal. Individually, she placed 18th in the all-around and 7th in the vault event final.
In 2002, she suffered a dislocated elbow and retired for a year before deciding to return to training in 2003. Off the national team and running low on funds, she took odd jobs, such as waitressing and delivering pizzas, to pay for her training and personal expenses. By 2004, she was in debt and could not afford to attend the Olympic Trials and other competitions. Baywatch star Pamela Anderson, who learned of Bhardwaj's situation when she purchased a raffle ticket on her behalf, became a personal supporter and gave Bhardwaj $20,000 for her training expenses.
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Mohini Bhardwaj
Mohini Bhardwaj (born September 29, 1978) is an American retired artistic gymnast who competed at the 1997 and 2001 World Championships and earned a silver medal with the American team at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and is a member of the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame. She is the first Indian-American gymnast, and the second Indian-American athlete in any sport, to medal at the Olympics.
Bhardwaj was born in Philadelphia to parents Indu and Kaushal. She has one younger brother, Arun. Her mother, Indu, is a Russian from New York who converted to Hinduism and teaches yoga; her father is from India and is a physician in Cincinnati. Bhardwaj was raised in the Hindu faith and is vegetarian.
She began taking gymnastics classes at the age of four in her hometown, Cincinnati, where she attended Seven Hills School. At the age of 13, she moved to Orlando to train at Brown's Gymnastics. When she was 16, her coach, Alexander Alexandrov, moved to Houston to open a new facility for Brown's, and Bhardwaj followed without her parents. Living alone in a Texas apartment, her gymnastics suffered.
At the 1996 U.S. Olympic Trials, Bhardwaj finished in 10th place, missing a spot on the team by 0.075. She continued training after the Olympics, but at the 1997 U.S. Nationals, NBC commentators noted that she was only competing at her parents' insistence. Still, she finished third in the all-around at Nationals and earned a spot on the 1997 World Championships team. At Worlds, she was the only American besides Kristen Maloney to qualify for an individual event final, the vault, where she placed fifth.
Bhardwaj's reputation as a wild child scared off some NCAA recruiters, but Valorie Kondos Field, the head coach for the UCLA Bruins gymnastics team, awarded her a full scholarship. Her partying continued through her freshman year, prompting Kondos to issue her an ultimatum to remain on the team.
By 1999, Bhardwaj had changed her ways and became a key member of the Bruins, with increased difficulty on all four events. During her time at UCLA, Bhardwaj earned All-American honors 11 times, earned 23 individual titles, and was the first gymnast from UCLA to be a four-time All-American on the uneven bars. As a senior, she won both the AAI Award and the Honda Sports Award. She was inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame in 2013.
After ending her UCLA career, Bhardwaj returned to elite competition. At the 2001 National Championships, she won the vault title and placed third in the all-around. She was named to the American team for the 2001 World Championships in Ghent, Belgium, where she contributed to the U.S. squad's bronze medal. Individually, she placed 18th in the all-around and 7th in the vault event final.
In 2002, she suffered a dislocated elbow and retired for a year before deciding to return to training in 2003. Off the national team and running low on funds, she took odd jobs, such as waitressing and delivering pizzas, to pay for her training and personal expenses. By 2004, she was in debt and could not afford to attend the Olympic Trials and other competitions. Baywatch star Pamela Anderson, who learned of Bhardwaj's situation when she purchased a raffle ticket on her behalf, became a personal supporter and gave Bhardwaj $20,000 for her training expenses.
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