NICOLE MILLER/Daily Bruin Senior Mohini
Bhardwaj looks to her future as her final season competing
as a Bruin winds to a close. She hopes to continue her career as a
gymnast.
By Adam Karon
Daily Bruin Staff
Mohini Bhardwaj almost did not become the greatest UCLA gymnast
of all time.
She almost missed a chance to win the national championship in
2000. She almost did not become an eight-time All-American. And she
almost did not become the 2000 NCAA champion on the uneven
bars.
But in a sport so often decided by a mere 10th of a point,
“almost” does not count in gymnastics, which leads to
the made-for-film story of Mohini Bhardwaj.
A movie about Bhardwaj’s life would be rated two thumbs
up. The first part detailing her stint as one of the nation’s
most sought-after elite gymnasts would be full of athletic
achievements, yet have slightly morose, depressing undertones. It
would detail a girl with talent to spare, who lacked a normal
childhood. The next part would start at UCLA as a story of
transformation and success for the ages. Without a doubt, two
thumbs up.
Scene one shows a 14-year-old Bhardwaj moving from her native
Cincinnati, Ohio, to Orlando, Fla., in search of better coaching. A
few years later she moved by herself to Houston with the approach
of the 1996 Olympic games. While most teenagers were worrying about
a date for the junior prom, Mohini was living alone with her cat,
Collie, in one of America’s largest cities.
“I trained in the morning, went to school, and then
trained again in the afternoon,” she said.
When the training and school were over, Bhardwaj did what any
16-year-old with her own apartment would do: she had fun. Bhardwaj
lived by her own rules, breaking them as she pleased. This
contributed to bad habits, both in and outside of the gym.
 COURTNEY STEWART Senior Mohini
Bhardwaj
performs on the balance beam at a meet earlier this season.
After failing to make the Olympic games, after finishing ninth
in the Olympic Trials, Bhardwaj began to lose interest in the
sport, and did whatever she could to disrupt practice.
“I had a really bad attitude,” she said.
“I’d miss practice, get kicked out of the gym, just do
anything I could to not be there.”
She realized that she did not enjoy the solitary world of club
gymnastics.
“My heart wasn’t in it and I didn’t really
care,” Bhardwaj said.
Although she finished third at Nationals in 1997 and qualified
to compete at the World Championships, the girl from Cincinnati was
not a happy gymnast.
Scene two: Enter UCLA gymnastics.
Bhardwaj’s troubles might have turned away most coaches.
Talent can only count for so much, and many coaches are not willing
to put in the extra effort to deal with an unfocused athlete. Not
UCLA Head Coach Valorie Kondos Field.
“She was the most talented recruit in the country and
probably the most talented gymnast to come into college
gymnastics,” Kondos Field said. “But she was a
handful.”
The handful turned into an armful when she landed on the college
scene.
Once again living alone, the adventurous Bhardwaj took a little
too kindly to Los Angeles’ social scene, and resorted to
living by her own rules.
“My social life was definitely my No. 1 priority when I
was a freshman,” she said.
She stayed out late, didn’t go to class, and allowed
herself to slip out of the physical condition required to compete
at the Division I level.
Although Bhardwaj regularly broke team regulations, she never
made excuses.
After a meet her freshman year, Bhardwaj and a teammate were
caught by Kondos Field breaking a team rule. When Kondos Field
arrived home to call her star recruit about the violation, there
was already a message on her machine asking what time and where she
should be ready to run.
Experiences like these taught Kondos Field who Mohini Bhardwaj
really was.
“From our very first conversation I saw a spirit in her
that I really identified with and respected,” Kondos Field
said. “The fact that she was honest with me about things that
weren’t complimentary to her meant a lot to me.”
But there came a time freshman year when Kondos Field was forced
to be honest with Bhardwaj, and her message was clear.
Clean up your act, or you’re gone.
It’s hard to believe that the best gymnast in UCLA history
came so close to losing her scholarship, getting kicked off her
team and out of school.
Thankfully for UCLA, Bhardwaj shaped up, both mentally and
physically.
After the warning she returned to school in better condition,
and perhaps more importantly, with better focus.
Bhardwaj went on to become an All-American selection her
freshman, sophomore and junior years. This year she figures to do
it again. But success in the gym is not what sets the new Bhardwaj
apart from the club gymnast.
The difference is in the way she competes, the way she studies,
and the way she holds herself accountable.
“I felt somewhat forced to do gymnastics when I
didn’t want to, so I stopped liking it,” she said.
“Over the course of the past four years I learned to love
it.”
The team atmosphere of UCLA gymnastics helped rekindle a
flickering love for her sport. A maturing Bhardwaj realized just
how close she came to losing it all through bad
decision-making.
Scene three of Bhardwaj’s story will come after
college.
She plans to be one of a small group of gymnasts to return to
the elite level after finishing her collegiate eligibility.
“Before college she proved herself, and she’s proven
herself since then,” teammate Kristen Parker said.
“Gymnastics is a sport for younger people, but she has every
chance in the world to do well.”
Her opponents will be 15 and 17-year-old girls, most of whom
were still in diapers when she started gymnastics.
But if they listen closely, they can learn from a girl who has
come a long way. They will see someone who suffered through the
rigors of elite gymnastics, returned with a new attitude and a new
outlook and will exit the scene as one of the most decorated UCLA
gymnasts in history.