Desi Making Waves

By Mayank S. Bubna

Mohini Bhardwaj - Vaulting to the Top

An average Olympic athlete spends 20 years in training. An average Olympic winner spends 20 seconds on the podium. The odds are tremendous. Throw in a few injuries into that equation, and it's next to impossible to get there. So what was it that drove gymnast Mohini Bhardwaj to pursue her dream, fall short and then try again?

Olympic gymnastics means many things to people. It is part circus, with colorful banners, men and women in costumes and bodies flying through the air with perfect balance and gravity-defying form. It is part competition with coaches applauding outstanding performances and judges scrutinizing the smallest error. But for myself and many others, Olympic gymnastics last year was redefined and has meant only one thing since: Mohini Bhardwaj.

In the months after the games, Bhardwaj kept popping up here and there—sometimes on TV, sometimes in the papers. But while I always thought it would be fascinating to meet this girl, I never knew how it would happen. When my editor put me on assignment to interview her, I could hardly contain my excitement. "Hi, this Mohini Bhardwaj…" I don't know if I was more surprised by the small husky voice on the other end of the line (I was expecting something more assertive), or by the fact that the Olympian had called me to remind me that I had to interview her. That night we spoke for more than an hour, as Bhardwaj filled in the gaps of my knowledge about the tough world of gymnastics, life as a celebrity and the struggles of a top athlete. What follows is neither a complete biography nor a resume but is simply a few stories from the life of one special person who saw a dream and made her reality.

The Early Years

Bhardwaj first became interested in gymnastics at the age of four, when she saw a friend do cartwheels. Her mother, though initially reluctant, finally decided to enroll her in gymnastics classes after she caught Bhardwaj doing back-flips off her bed. At age six, when being interviewed by a local news station, she was asked if she wanted to go to the Olympics one day. And she said no. Soon she began competing with girls four years older than she was and her first big victory was the Crimson Classic in Alabama at the age of 12. This was also the time when she began to harbor Olympic dreams.

Life was already a struggle. While most good gymnasts are lucky enough to have coaches in their vicinity, Bhardwaj did not have any such opportunity. She moved to Orlando to pursue more serious training in high school. She began training at Brown's Gymnastics, an elite gymnasts' club-chain and later moved away from her family to Houston, where she trained with the Russian coach, Alexander Alexandroz.

A Taste of the World

Bhardwaj first tried out for the Olympics in the 1996 trials. That year, everyone expected her to qualify for the Atlanta Games. However, she missed a spot on the Olympic team by seventy-five thousandths of a point. Her performance, however, was good enough to win her full scholarships to every Division-I university; she decided on UCLA and entered the collegiate circuit.

As a student-athlete, Bhardwaj was simply the best. She broke every single gymnastics record that had ever been set in UCLA and became an 11-time All-American. But then something happened that would almost completely change her life. At World's in 2002, Bhardwaj missed a release, fell to the floor and dislocated her elbow.

The Struggle Years

Anyone who watched Bhardwaj on the fateful day in 2002 would have thought that this was it—her career would be over. Even now, three years after her accident, Bhardwaj still thinks about it, "What if…" she says on the phone to me.

The injury set Bhardwaj back emotionally and discouraged her immensely. But while most of us would have quietly caved in and succumbed to another life, Bhardwaj did something astonishingly different. Encouraged by her previous teammates who had made the Olympics and repeatedly told her that she was better, Bhardwaj resolved to come back to the sport she loved and see if she could win.

It wasn't easy of course. Those were the days before big Hollywood endorsements. Bhardwaj worked full-time to be able to support her living and training costs before her father agreed to support her financially. However, her credit cards were already maxed out and she found herself in a financially dire position.

Back on Track

It so happened that Pamela Anderson's financial advisor's daughter went to the same gym that Bhardwaj did. Within days Anderson, a former gymnast herself, found out about Bhardwaj’s Olympic-track dreams. Shared vegetarianism sealed the connection between the two women and Anderson set up a fund in Bhardwaj’s name to which she contributed money to support her training, pay her credit card bills and buy tickets for her parents to go to Athens. Roll on 2004!

The Olympic Games

Being the captain and oldest member on the US women's team, 25-year old Bhardwaj’s responsibilities extended further than just training. However, that did not deter her from having her share of fun at the games. According to Bhardwaj, “The coolest part about the games was walking about the Olympic village. Everyone had their flags up. The Cubans even had pictures of Fidel Castro when he was young. The cafeteria was a hot zone for meeting other athletes. Different teams would walk in and out every day. You could tell from the way their bodies were built, what sport they were into.”

"We arrived in Athens about a month before the games. There were four gymnasiums available for our use in the mornings and afternoons. We mostly trained side by side with the Romanians and Canadians. However, we were very focused on ourselves and not so much on rivalry. Sometimes I felt a little out of place being around girls so much younger than I was, but we were mentally mature and knew how to work as a team.”

Bhardwaj’s hard work and determination all came together in the form of a silver medal at the games. What was it that drove her to the finish line in such style? What was it that helped pull her through 30 hour-weeks of solitary, punishing training week after week? Bhardwaj fumbled with her thoughts for a moment. Perhaps it was the sheer determination; perhaps it was the prophecy that her guru had made for her the year of her injury ("The best is yet to come," he had told her mother); perhaps it was maturity and recognition on her part that this was going to be her last big competitive effort in the sport. There wasn't one certain answer. But whatever it was, she had been there, done that, and gotten the t-shirt.

The Future

Bhardwaj says that she might return to school to pursue a higher degree. But then she makes a more educated guess. The sport that she's been tied to for 22 years will always tug on her shirt, and she might just return to gymnastics—coaching other young girls to achieve their Olympics dream. Wherever she ends up, one thing's for sure – I don't think I will ever have had enough of Mohini Bhardwaj.

Mayank S. Bubna is a grad student at NYU. He was a National Games finalist in swimming. He also runs marathons when he is bored, and teaches yoga. Presently, he is training for the Ironman Triathlon.

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