Bhardwaj, U.S. Women Win Bronze At World Gymnastics Championships
October 31, 2001 | Gymnastics
Oct. 31, 2001
Ghent, Belgium - Former UCLA Bruin Mohini Bhardwaj helped the U.S. women's team win a bronze medal at the World Gymnastics Championships Wednesday.
Bhardwaj anchored on vault during the U.S.'s last rotation, leading her team to a three-score total of 27.642. The final U.S. team total was 108.427. Defending champion Romania placed first with a final score of 110.209, followed by second-place Russia (109.023). Spain was fourth (106.578), the Netherlands fifth (106.495) and Ukraine sixth (104.316). Australia (102.934) and Germany (102.848) round out the Top 8.
"This is my biggest medal in all my years of gymnastics," said Bhardwaj, who competed on the sixth-place U.S. Worlds team in 1997. "This just sums up my whole career. On top of all of the collegiate accomplishments, this is worth just as much, if not more."
The bronze medal is the United States' first world team medal since 1995, when current Bruin junior Doni Thompson helped the U.S. capture the bronze. It is only the fourth Worlds medal in U.S. women's history, the others coming in 1995, 1994 and 1991.
