Nedoroscik’s immaculate pommel horse routine helped secure the bronze medal, ending the US’ 16-year drought for team event—while effortlessly charming the world.
Every iteration of the Olympic Games breeds its own set of darlings—athletes who capture our collective admiration for their athletic prowess and in some instances, their magnetic charm.
For the Paris games, there’s Simone Biles, of course, who has always been everyone’s golden girl, but especially this Olympics where she finds herself on a journey of redemption after a not-so stellar outing at the Tokyo Summer Games. And redeemed herself she did in such a spectacular fashion: her latest medal is her eighth, making her the most decorated US gymnast in Olympic history.
Then there are the ones who have stolen the show not only because of their athletic excellence but also because of a certain quirk that has endeared them to Olympic watchers, South Korean air pistol silver medalist Kim Ye-ji , for instance, has become an overnight worldwide sensation because of her badass action-star looks (even Elon Musk was impressed) that’s softened by a very special lucky charm—her daughter’s stuffed elephant.
And then we have the man of the hour, Stephen “Pommel Horse Guy” Nedoroscik (that was a mouthful!), Team USA’s pommel horse specialist who captured the hearts of netizens around the world.
Nerdy and unassuming, the 25-year-old former pommel horse world champion is competing in his first Olympics. He was so good during qualification that he edged two-time Olympic champion Max Whitlock of Britain with a 15.200 to his British rival’s 15.166, the Associated Press reports.
Nedoroscik is the only specialist in the US team, and he has chosen to focus on just what he does best, honing his pommel horse skills to perfection. His four US pommel horse titles are tied for the most in history.
But his inclusion to Team USA was also met with criticism. Many observers thought a one-event specialist such as Nedoroscik didn’t belong on USA’s Olympics team. After all, having a one-event guy in a six-event competition with five-man teams doesn’t sound like the best idea.
“I was completely aware of it,” the Penn State University alum told the Washington Post. “I really wanted to make the Olympic team, and I knew that there was going to be backlash to it. I do one event compared to these guys that are phenomenal all-arounders. And I am a phenomenal horse guy. But it’s hard to fit on a five-guy team.”
Despite misgivings, even his own, the Rubik’s Cube savant has proven his detractors wrong.
For his Olympics performance, he only had one chance and 45 seconds to wow the judges—and wow them he did. The bespectacled charmer’s 14.866 score secured the bronze medal for Team USA, its first team medal in gymnastics since 2008.
Nedoroscik is in Paris to help bring honor to the flag he represents, and this he was able to achieve. What he probably didn’t expect was becoming an internet sensation with a frenzy comparable to what surrounded former online darlings Benedict Cumberbatch, Pedro Pascal, and Keanu Reeves. We can’t blame his growing legion of fans, the guy’s effortlessly charming!
Here are some of Twitterverse’s most amusing reactions—some insightful but mostly hilarious—to electrical engineer and now Olympic bronze medalist and internet sensation, Stephen Nedoroscik.
What makes Nedoroscik’s pommel horse performance even more impressive is that he has strabismus or cross-eyes, meaning he was nearly as blind as a bat while doing all those twists and turns. This is why he wears glasses, which he took off before his routine, making people compare him to Clark Kent (quite a spot-on comparison, to be honest).
He shared with Today’s Hoda Kotb that he competes with limited vision, choosing to forgo the goggles he once wore during collegiate gymnastics. “I don’t even really see when I’m doing my gymnastics,” he said. “It’s all in the hands. I can feel everything.” All the more reason to fawn over him.
We’re obsessed with him, too. And yes, he would make an excellent Clark Kent with that jawline.
This tweet perfectly captures how the audience must have felt after seeing Nedoroscik waiting by the sidelines for over two hours before being called for his 45 seconds of Olympic glory.
Oh yes he pommeled the horse out of pommel horse. And made “pommel horse” trend on X, too.
And here he is making our hearts melt as he meets a young fan who has the same eye condition as his.
Even Tess “Ms. Pommel Horse” McCracken, Nedoroscik’s girlfriend of eight years, has charmed us as well. Don’t they look so good and wholesome together?
And this is me for the past two days, liking every single tweet about Stephen Nedoroscik. Long live, Pommel Horse Guy!
