Mohini Bhardwaj was born on September 29, 1978 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. One of her parents is from Russia and the other from India. There names are Kaushal and Indu. She has a younger brother named Arun. Mohini began gymnastics at age four in Cincinnati. She trained at Queen City Gymnastics from 1982-1992 with Gary Warren. In 1993, she moved to Florida and trained at Brown's. Later on she moved to Houston to train at a different Brown's location. She began school at UCLA and continued gymnastics. At the end of 2001 she started training at All Olympia Gymnastics Center. After the 2002 US Nationals, Mo took about a year off from gym. She started training in the summer of 2003 at Woodward West. She trained at Woodward West and All Olympia Gymnastics Center until the Olympic Games. After the post-Olympic tour, she moved to Colorado Springs to be near her boyfriend, Jason Gatson. Mo trained at Colorado Aerials before deciding to retire.

Her first elite meet was the 1993 American Classic. She placed 11th all-around. Her next meet was the Olympic Festival. Her results improved to 7th all-around. After placing 15th at the US Classic she was ready for her first US Nationals. At the national championships she placed 10th all-around and made the national team.

In 1994 she competed at her first international meet, the Puerto Rico International Gymnastics Cup. She placed second on vault and third on beam. Mohini placed 18th all-around at the American Classic and finished 35th at the National Championships.

1995 was Mo's most successful year yet. She finished 7th all-around and a competition at the China Cup. She then traveled to Atlanta and competed at the Atlanta Gymnastics Invite and placed 8th all-around. In national competitions she finished 10th all-around at the American Classic and 5th all-around at the Olympic Festival. Her final meet was the US National Championships. She placed 15th all-around.

If fans of Mohini thought 1995 went well, 1996 went fantastic. Mohini won the Pacific Alliance Championships in the all-around and on vault. She also helped the team to first. Mohini also competed in Moscow at the World Star Competition. She placed 4th all-around. She finished 9th all-around at the American Classic and third at the US Classic. At the 1996 National Championships she finished 12th all-around and qualified for the Olympic Trials. Mohini would finish in tenth place. After every Olympic year many gymnasts retire leaving room for new stars to rise.

1997 was Mohini's year. Mohini competed at the Visa American Cup and finished tenth all-around in the preliminaries. Things started to get better. She placed third all-around at nationals, qualifying for the world team. She and the USA team finished sixth and placed fifth on vault. Many people were disappointed in the team's performance since they had just won the Olympic gold.

After worlds, Mohini began a awesome college career at UCLA. At the 1998 NCAA Championships, Mo placed 4th on bars and 7th on vault. She earned All-American honors on vault and bars. The next year she finished 11th all-around and 8th on bars. Mohini was a first-team All-American on bars and second-team in the all-around.

Also in 1999, Mohini competed at the World University Games. She qualified to the all-around finals! In 2000, she helped the team to a first place finish and won bars and finished 2nd in the all-around and beam. Mohini was a First-Team All-American in the all-around, vault, bars and beam. Mohini became the first gymnast to earn all-conference honors on all four events and in the all-around. 2001 was Mohini's final year as an NCAA star. As a senior she guided the team to a first place finish and won the floor competition.

Mohini decided to come back to elite gymnastics after NCAA. She competed three events at the US Classic and petitioned to the US National Championships. At nationals, she finished third all-around and became the national champion on vault! The third place finished qualified Mo to the 2001 World Team. Before going to Belgium the team would compete at the Pan Am Games. Mohini placed second all-around. At the World Championships the team won a bronze medal! Mo also placed 18th in the all-around and seventh in the vault finals.

Mohini continued doing elite in 2002 at the US Classic. She placed eighth all-around and second on the vault. At nationals Mohini dislocated her elbow on bars and could not finish the meet. Mo then retired from gymnastics. This retirement was not for long as she decided she wanted to try for 2004 in the summer of 2003. Mohini resumed training with Chris Waller at All Olympia Gymnastics Center.

Mohini competed at the American Classic held in her home court. With lots of fans she finished 8th all-around and finished second on vault. She competed at the 2004 US Nationals. She placed 2nd on vault and 12th all-around, qualifying for the Olympic Trials for her second time. The Olympic Trials would be held in Southern California. Mohini had lots of fans as she had the second highest score on vault, 4th on the bars, 10th on beam and 11th on floor. Mohini also finished in sixth all-around. She also earned a spot at the Olympic Selection Camp. At the Olympic Selection Camp she made the Olympic Team! Mohini was voted team captain of the US Olympic Gymnastics Team.

In Athens, Mohini competed well in the preliminaries and made it to floor finals. At team finals the USA team had some mishaps but Mohini performed great on the vault and beam but struggled with dance combinations on the floor. The USA team finished in second. Even though they did not win a medal in 2000 this was considered a disappointment since they were favored to win gold. Mo competed in the floor final a few days later. She struggled with dance combos once again and finished in sixth. Not bad for a first time Olympian.

Most of the USA Olympic Team then went on the TJ Maxx Tour of World Gymnastics Champions. Mohini had a great time. After the tour was over she moved from Southern California to Colorado Springs. She trained at Colorado Aerials with Tom Forster. After some injuries, Mohini decided to retire.

Fast Facts Name: Mohini Bhardwaj Birthday: Sept. 29, 1978 Club: AOGC College: UCLA UCLA

MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS Eight Time US National Team Member Eleven All-American Honors 2004: Olympic Silver Medalist 2001: Worlds- 3rd T, 7th VT, 18th AA 2001: US Nationals- 3rd AA, 1st VT 2001: NCAA Champion- TM, FX 2000: NCAA Champion- UB, TM 1997: World Championships- 5th VT 1997: US Nationals- 3rd AA 1998: Australia Cup Champion 1998: US Nationals- 2nd AA 1996: Olympic Trials Particpant 1996: Pacific Alliance Champion

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