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Louise Thomas
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The Paris 2024 Olympics are still underway, but this summer’s games have already delivered a number of viral moments. This week, during the US men’s gymnastics final, viewers were given yet another breakout star – lovingly nicknamed by the internet as “pommel horse guy”.
Stephen Nedoroscik, a 25-year-old Penn State alum, secured Team USA an Olympic medal in men’s gymnastics for the first time in 16 years. While Japan and China finished in first and second place, respectively, Nedoroscik and his teammates received the third place bronze medal.
During Monday’s final, viewers couldn’t take their eyes off Nedoroscik, who waited nearly three hours for his turn to compete in the very last event. With his thick black frame glasses, the gymnast was seen napping, playing charades, solving Rubik’s cubes, and cheering on his teammates – Brody Malone, Paul Juda, Frederick Richard, and Asher Hong – until it was time to mount the pommel horse.
Nedoroscik, known as the pommel horse “specialist,” delivered a nearly perfect routine with a score of 14.866. But it wasn’t his impressive skills on the mat that made Nedoroscik into a viral sensation. Rather, it was his unassuming, “nerdy” Clark Kent-turned-Superman energy that transformed Nedoroscik into everyone’s favorite Olympic athlete.
“Obsessed with this guy on the US men’s gymnastics team who’s [sic] only job is pommel horse,” wrote user Megan on X, formerly Twitter, after Nedoroscik’s stunning performance. “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.”
Across social media, fans were amazed that Nedoroscik’s entire gymnastics career has been focused on perfecting the pommel horse. In fact, he was tapped to join the five-member US men’s gymnastics team after he came in first place at the 2024 US pommel horse championship. Much like Ken in the Barbie movie, whose sole job is beach, Nedoroscik’s one job at the Olympics is essentially pommel horse.
“Absolutely sick that America brought Stephen Nedoroscik, some nerd from Massachusetts, to Paris who’s [sic] sole purpose in life is to ball out on the pommel horse,” said user Sam after Monday’s final. “Long live pommel horse guy.”
Many sports fans admitted that they were unaware of Nedoroscik, or his pommel horse skills, up until his jaw-dropping performance. Now, some have declared him a “national hero” and “American icon”.
Others made comparisons to Clark Kent, who famously takes off his glasses before transforming into Superman. Nedoroscik was seen wearing his square-framed glasses up until the last men’s gymnastics event. When it was finally his turn to take to the pommel horse, Nedoroscik whipped off his frames and balanced himself on the apparatus with near perfection. Although Nedoroscik has previously told fans he suffers from strabismus – a condition also known as crossed eyes – even someone with 20/20 vision wouldn’t come close to such a performance.
“Taking off your glasses to then perform a near perfect routine on the pommel horse is so freaking metal,” one person said, while the official account for NBC Olympics & Paralympics captioned a side-by-side image of Nedoroscik and Superman actor Christopher Reeve: “Stephen Nedoroscik, the Clark Kent of pommel horse!”
The Massachusetts native, who graduated from Penn State in 2020 with a degree in mechanical engineering, won two NCAA championships during his college career. In 2021, he became the first US gymnast to win a world championship gold medal on pommel horse, according to ABC. After scoring 14.866 during Monday’s event, Nedoroscik will be given another chance to score a medal on Saturday, August 3.
It also seems that Nedoroscik has caught wind of the viral reaction to his pommel horse performance. Speaking to Today co-hosts Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie on Tuesday, the gymnast was asked how he feels about becoming the latest internet meme.
“I think they’re awesome,” he said. “I’m representing people that wear glasses well.”
