Mohini Bhardwaj

Mohini Bhardwaj led the U.S. gymnastic squad which won the silver in the women’s team event on Aug. 17 at the Athens Olympics. Nearly a week later, on Aug. 23, Catalina Ponor of Romania won the women’s floor exercise gold with 9.750 points, followed by silver medallist compatriot Nicoleta Daniela Sofronie with 9.562 and bronze winner Patricia Moreno of Spain whose tally read 9.487.

Mohini Bhardwaj performs on the beam on Aug. 17 at the Olympic Indoor Hall in Athens during the women’s artistic gymnastics team final. She led the U.S. team that won the silver medal in the women’s team event. (File Photo: AFP)

Finishing sixth in a field of eight finalists, 25-year-old Bhardwaj, who is an American of mixed Indian-Russian descent, logged 9.312 points. The silver won by Bhardwaj was a triumph for her intense love for gymnastics as well as iron determination in the face of a string of adversities such as injury, acute financial difficulty and age in a sport dominated by contestants in their early and mid-teens.