For the Summer Olympics in 2024, NPR is in Paris. Visit our most recent updates to see more of our coverage of the games. Clark Kent, get over here. Pommel Horse Guy is the newest spectacle-wearing (and shedding) superhero in America. When the men’s gymnastics all-around finals took place on Monday, Stephen Nedoroscik was hardly a household name. He was only there to compete in one event, which just so happened to be the final one, as Team USA’s resident pommel horse specialist. However, the 25-year-old began to draw notice during the hours he spent waiting on the sidelines. After Monday’s men’s team final, members of the U.S. men’s gymnastics team pose with their bronze medal. For the United States, it’s the first Olympic medal in the category since 2008.
With a bronze as a team, the American men’s gymnastics team ends a 16-year Olympic drought. NBC used a countdown clock in the lower corner of their video feed for “Nedoroscik Pommel.” The fact that he occasionally gave the impression of sleeping with his eyes closed fascinated observers. Comparisons on social media were rife, ranging from Steve Kornacki and Barbie’s Ken (who is known for having just one job) to Superman and Captain America. Inquiring followers found Nedoroscik’s Instagram account, where he had shared a video a few hours earlier showing how to solve a Rubik’s cube in less than ten seconds. Nedoroscik suddenly rose to hero status. However, he was somewhat of a controversial figure when he got to Paris. In an attempt to win its first Olympic team medal since 2008, the men’s gymnastics team from the United States changed its approach this time around. Despite qualifying for the Games, none of the five team members will participate in every event (there are six total). The United States chose to provide one berth on the squad to Nedoroscik, a specialist, rather than giving all five spots to “all-around” gymnasts who compete on every piece of equipment. He is only participating on the pommel horse, an apparatus that is known to be challenging and a weak point for many teams.
Nedoroscik performed the last routine during the Olympic final rotation
The only thing separating the US team from a medal was his less than one minute on the apparatus. His fist went straight up in the air as he hopped off after scoring 14.866, causing the crowd to explode in cheers. He fulfilled his purpose for visiting Paris. The Massachusetts gymnast gained attention on the internet as well. Before long, people were calling him Mr. Pommel Horse. His lover became “Ms. Pommel Horse” on X, the platform that replaced Twitter. Fans also learned about his pastime, which is solving Rubik’s cubes. On the day of the competition, he completed one in under ten seconds.
NBC’s The Today Show spoke with Nedoroscik on Tuesday, and he said that solving the puzzle provided “stress relief.” “I love to solve it—it’s just fun,” he replied. People on social media likened him to Superman’s glasses-wearing alter ego, Clark Kent. Nedoroscik sat on the sidelines wearing spectacles while he waited for his routine, and then he removed them to participate. One person remarked, “Obsessed with this guy on the US men’s gymnastics team,” in a post that went viral. “He just sits there until he’s activated like a sleeper agent, whips off his glasses like Clark Kent, and does a pommel horse routine that helps deliver the team its first medal in 16 years.” He was dubbed “the Clark Kent of pommel horse” by NBC’s Olympics X account. Nedoroscik is prone to double vision due to strabismus, or crossed eyes. He demonstrated to his fans on TikTok in 2022 how his ailment enables him to switch which eye is the dominant eye. He stated on The Today Show that he found the memes that depicted him to be “awesome” and that they represented “the people that wear glasses well.”.
Nedoroscik shared a picture of a Rubik’s Cube solve time on social media prior to the competition: 9.321 seconds
When Nedoroscik’s moment eventually came, the Americans had done so brilliantly that all he had to do was hope for the best. However, the pommel horse is the mechanism that frequently sees disasters occur. With their hands supporting their raised bodies and their legs swinging around the apparatus, athletes never stop moving and never lose their beat. Nedoroscik has a challenging routine with a high ceiling for scoring, but he has occasionally faltered under duress. Not knowing the exact calculations, he reasoned that his team would win a medal if he performed his routine flawlessly. Nedoroscik “probably had the most pressure than any other athlete tonight on the competition floor,” according to U.S. High Performance Director Brett McClure, because of the lengthy wait and the high stakes.
The elation was immediate as soon as he finished with style, scoring well enough to secure a comfortable third-place finish. Nedoroscik took his spectacles out of the chalk bucket and punched his clenched fist into heaven. They both leaped up and down, and he gave one of his coaches a hug. His colleagues gathered around and hoisted him into the air before he could even put his glasses back on his face.
But not for Team USA, not this year
“Essentially, it’s because [Nedoroscik’s pommel horse scores] are so much higher than everyone else on that one event that he adds a tremendous amount of potential score,” stated Tim Daggett, an Olympic gold medalist in gymnastics for NBC Sports. The United States was hanging on to third place, and they were depending on Nedoroscik to keep them there by the time he had thrown off his warm-up clothing and glasses. It was the pressure that caused Nedoroscik to jump on the handlebars. He spun about for a terrifying forty seconds while the crowd screamed, and then he successfully dismounted with a smile and a fist pump.
His teammates gave him hugs and gave him a high five. They already knew that the United States men’s gymnastics team had just won bronze, its first team medal at the Olympics in sixteen years. Later on, Nedoroscik told reporters he had tried his hardest to turn anxiety into excitement. He remarked, “I tried my hardest to enjoy every moment of that routine, even though I’ve done it a million times by now.” He also provided an answer to an issue that was on many people’s minds: despite not believing he is using his eyes at all, he can see without glasses.
