Mohini Bhardwaj

Mohini Bhardwaj (born September 29, 1978 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American gymnast.

Mohini (known to her teammates as "Mo") began taking gymnastics at the early age of four. Training in Cincinnati, Ohio she quickly climbed up the amateur ranks, and by 1993 her coaches had confidence she could make the Olympic team. Determined to make her dreams come true, she moved to Orlando, Florida and started training under Alexander Alexandrov, a former coach of the Soviet gymnastics team. After training for three years in Orlando, Mohini went with Alexander to Houston, Texas without her parents. At 17 with a apartment in Texas and living alone, she began to drink alcohol and smoke marijuana.

Drugs started to interfere with her training, and at the 1996 Olympic trials she finished a disappointing tenth. Though not being able to go to the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, she continued to train. At the time Mohini was a top high school gymnast, and UCLA granted her a full athletic scholarship. During her years at UCLA, she set many school records and guided the team to two championship titles. Mohini is also a double major in sociology and history at UCLA.

In 2001 Mohini began training for the international team in hopes of making the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. Being over twenty now, she was the oldest on the international team and more susceptible to injury. In 2002 Mohini dislocated her elbow, a injury so serious it kept her out of action until 2004. Running low on funds and trying to make a comeback for her Olympic dreams, former Baywatch actress Pamela Anderson wrote a check for $20,000 to pay for her training. Finishing 6th at the 2004 Olympic trials and with Pamela cheering her on, she had finally earned a spot on the Olympic team.

Mohini and her teammates earned a silver medal at the 2004 Olympics in the women's gymnastics team competition. Mohini also finished 6th in the floor excercise with a (9.312), which was the only single event she participated in at the 2004 olympics.

Other Facts

  • Won a bronze medal at the 2001 World Championships
  • In Hindi Mohini means "illusion"
  • Her mother is from Russia and her father is from India



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