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atypically as meningoencephlitis Bhardwaj P, Kaushal RK, Gupta H - J... pediatricneurosciences.co... | Dr. Ritu Bhardwaj, Family Care Clinic | Ayurvedic Treatment Services |... herbal-clinic.com | of color doppler in scrotal lesions Bhardwaj Patiala - Indian J Radiol... ijri.org | in infertility Prakash Trivedi 1 , Mohini Abreo 2 - J Gynec Endosc... gynecendoscopy.org |
Mohini Bhardwaj (मोहिनी भारद्वाज) (born September 29, 1978) is a retired American gymnast who competed at the 1997 and 2001 World Championships and earned a team silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. She is the first Indian-American gymnast, and the second Indian-American athlete overall, ever to medal at the Olympics.[1]
[edit] Early life and careerMohini Bhardwaj was born on September 29, 1978, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to parents Indu and Kaushal. She has one younger brother, Arun. Bhardwaj's mother, Indu, is from Russia; her father is from India.[2] Bhardwaj was raised in the Hindu faith, and is vegetarian.[3] Her given name, Mohini, means "illusion" in Hindi.[4] During her gymnastics career, this fact was repeated by commentators in almost every televised competition in which she competed, and eventually became a running joke among gymnastics fans. Bhardwaj began taking gymnastics classes at the age of four in her hometown of Cincinnati.[4] She excelled in the sport, and, at the age of 13, moved to Orlando to train at Brown's Gymnastics.[2] At the age of 16, Bhardwaj's coach, Alexander Alexandrov, moved to Houston to open a new facility for Brown's. Bhardwaj followed, without her parents.[5] Living alone in a Texas apartment, she began to struggle, and her gymnastics suffered from long nights of partying, smoking and drinking.[2][5] At the 1996 U.S. Olympic Trials, she finished in 10th place, missing a spot on the team by .075.[3] Bhardwaj continued training after the Olympics, but at the 1996 U.S. Nationals, NBC commentators noted that she was only competing due to her parents' insistence.[6] In spite of her seeming indifferent, Bhardwaj had a strong showing at Nationals, finishing 3rd in the all-around and easily earning a spot on the American World Championships team. At the 1997 World Championships, Bhardwaj was the only American besides Kristen Maloney to qualify for an individual event final, the vault, where she placed fifth.[4] [edit] NCAA careerBhardwaj's reputation as a wild child scared off some NCAA recruiters, but Val Kondos, head coach for UCLA, awarded her a full gymnastics scholarship. Her partying continued through her freshman year, prompting Kondos to issue her an ultimatum to remain on the team.[2][5] Kondos' faith paid off: by 1999, Bhardwaj had changed her ways and became a key member of the Bruins. Her gymnastics flourished in the college environment, her difficulty on all events increased, and she developed a new artistic style on floor exercise. During her time at UCLA, Bhardwaj earned All-American honors eleven 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 American Award and the prestigious Honda Award.[7][8][2] [edit] 2001-2004After ending her UCLA career with a new perspective and work ethic, Bhardwaj returned to elite competition. At the 2001 U.S. National Championships, she won the vault title and placed 3rd 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, placed 18th in the all-around and 7th in the vault event final.[4] In 2002, however, Bhardwaj suffered a dislocated elbow, an injury so serious that she retired for a year before deciding to return to training in 2003.[5][9] Off the national team and running low on funds, Bhardwaj found herself taking odd jobs, such as waitressing and delivering pizzas, to pay for her gymnastics training and personal expenses. By 2004 she was in debt and could not afford to attend the U.S. Olympic Trials and other competitions. Baywatch star Pamela Anderson learned of Bhardwaj's challenges when she purchased a raffle ticket on her behalf, became a personal supporter, and gave the gymnast a generous $20,000 grant to support her training expenses.[10][3][5] At the 2004 Nationals, Bhardwaj placed a disappointing 12th in the all-around, snagging the final spot in the Olympic Trials. However, a sixth-place finish at the Trials, combined with her impressive vaulting, difficult skills and consistent routines on all other events earned her a spot on the US Olympic Team. In Athens, Bhardwaj was an important contributor to the American team's silver medal, the team's best ever finish outside the United States. Elected team captain by her teammates,[11] she competed all four events in preliminary competition, earning an all-around placement (8th) that would have advanced her to the AA finals if not for the FIG rule limiting AA competitors to two-per-country.[12] Carly Patterson and Courtney Kupets advanced instead. In the team finals, Bhardwaj was used on three events, turning in solid performances. Her balance beam performance was particularly noteworthy: though probably her worst event in gymnastics, Mohini was informed after warmups concluded that she would have to perform on the event due to her teammate's injury. Not expecting to compete beam in finals, and without even having warmed up, Bhardwaj delivered to her capacity, helping the Americans keep the silver ahead of a resurgent Russian team.[13] As team captain, Bhardwaj also served as a stabilizing factor for the younger members of the team, taking them aside and comforting them when they made errors. Bhardwaj's final performance in the Olympics was the floor exercise event final, where she placed 6th. She appealed her score at first but after the use of a video replay the original start value and score were both upheld. Bhardwaj's father still claimed afterwards that she ought to have been awarded bronze. For her Olympic achievements, Bhardwaj was named the India Abroad Person of the Year for 2004.[14] After the Olympics, Bhwardwaj joined the other members of the Olympic team on a national exhibition tour.[14] She attempted to continue competing into 2005, and was originally selected for the American Cup in January 2005, but had insufficient training time to be ready and withdrew. She eventually retired from competitive gymnastics later in 2005, at the age of 26. [edit] Post-retirementBhardwaj currently works as a coach at Cascade All Star Gymnastics in Bend, OR.[15] [edit] Major competition results2004 Olympic Games: 2nd team; 6th FX [edit] References
[edit] External links
Categories: 1978 births | Living people | American Hindus | American female artistic gymnasts | Gymnasts at the 2004 Summer Olympics | Medalists at World Gymnastics Championships | Originators of elements in artistic gymnastics | Americans of Indian descent | Sportspeople of Indian descent | People from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Russian Americans | UCLA Bruins athletes | University of California, Los Angeles alumni | College gymnasts | Olympic gymnasts of the United States | Olympic silver medalists for the United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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