Stephen Nedoroscik captured America's heart when the U.S. men's gymnastics team captured the bronze medal in the team final at the Paris Olympics. He has a chance to do it again Saturday in the pommel horse event finals, the last chance for the men's team to take home a second medal from France.
The world was introduced to Stephen Nedoroscik, aka “The Pommel Horse Guy,” when he helped the U.S. men’s gymnastics team win its first Olympic medal in 16 years.
The bespectacled 25-year-old from Worcester, Massachusetts, sat practically still during the men's team final waiting his turn to take to the pommel horse, his only event in Paris. When it was time to go, he delivered 45 seconds of brilliance.
He did not miss, delivering “the exclamation point” with a 14.866 to finish off a performance the U.S. men's program hopes provides serious momentum heading into the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.
“I kind of in that moment was like, ‘All right, let’s run it back and let’s go out there and do our thing,’” Nedoroscik said.
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The celebration began before his feet even hit the mat on his dismount and Nedoroscik was an instant meme on social media.
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He typically competes with a pair of goggles designed to stay on as he swings around the apparatus. Fans have dubbed him the Clark Kent of pommel horse because he takes off his thick-rimmed eyeglasses before his routine, and puts them immediately back on to see.
Nedoroscik will soar into the event finals Saturday with a chance to put another medal in his carry-on before he heads home. His 15.200 qualifying score tied Ireland's Rhys McClenaghan for the tops among the eight finalists.
He is ready to ride the wave as far as it will take him. Yet whatever happens on Saturday or for the rest of his life for that matter, it will be difficult to top Monday night, when the guy with the curly hair and the glasses that made him the kind of social media sensation only the Olympics provides struck a blow for his sport, his teammates and himself.
“I'm really proud of these guys,” he said while sitting alongside the group that became U.S. men's gymnastics royalty. “I love you boys.”
