Meet Stephen Nedoroscik, The ‘Pommel Horse Guy’ who has gone viral

When it comes to sports, the friendly rivalry between the United States of America (USA) and Canada is no secret. However, time and again, the two countries have joined forces to create something special. One of the earlier instances of this happened in the late 1930s.

Superman, the brainchild of American comic book writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian artist Joe Shuster, debuted in Action Comics#1 on 18 April 1938. And the rest, as they say, is history. With a cape on his shoulders and a broad ‘S’ on his chest, he became the archetype of superheroes — someone who has metahuman strength and can fly as well as shoot lasers with his eyes.

He even has an alias — when not fighting crime, he goes by the name of Clark Kent. To the world, Clark is a bespectacled reporter who leads a mundane life in the fictional city of Metropolis.

The bespectacled alias aspect is especially timely right now. The internet is known for sensationalising people and their achievements at the drop of a hat (or should we say ‘the tap of a button’ for the sake of accuracy?). At present, it claims to have found the ‘Clark Kent of pommel horse!’

At the Paris Olympics 2024, the USA found a new hero in Stephen Nedoroscik who gifted his nation its first medal in men’s gymnastics since 2008. The gymnast, who specialises in the pommel horse routine, is agile and possesses above-normal athleticism and strength. He even wears a pair of nerdy (but adorable) glasses on the floor (and removes them before starting his routine), which as you can guess, has made the internet label him as the Clark Kent of athletics.

So, if you too are curious to know more about the internet’s newest sensation, join us as we take you through the life of Olympic medallist Stephen Nedoroscik aka the ‘pommel horse guy’ and look at the young gymnast’s career highlights, records, medals, hobbies, girlfriend and more.

Everything to know about the ‘pommel horse guy’ Stephen Nedoroscik, including his records and medals

A look at his formative years

While Superman grew up in Kansas according to the comic books, this version of Clark Kent was born and brought up in Worcester, Massachusetts. Stephen Nedoroscik began his gymnastics career at the tender age of five and competed on all apparatuses. By the time he reached high school, however, he recognised pommel horse as his strong suit and decided to specialise in that category.

Back when he was an NCAA gymnast, Nedoroscik was well-known for competing in goggles because of strabismus and coloboma — two eye conditions he was born with. Here’s a fun fact: the goggles were a Secret Santa gift from his Penn State Nittany Lions teammate Ben Cooperman.

Representing the Penn State team, the American pommel horse specialist won three medals at the NCAA Championships — two gold (in 2017 and 2018) and a silver (in 2019).

For his outstanding track record at the NCAA Championships, Nedoroscik was also presented with the Nissen Emery Award — given to the best senior male collegiate gymnast in the USA — in 2020.

He ‘almost’ made it to the Tokyo Olympics in 2021

Stephen Nedoroscik did not have an ideal outing in his first-ever FIG World Cup (he finished sixth in the event held in Doha in 2019). But he ensured that his second visit to the marquee tournament was a memorable one.

In early 2020, Nedoroscik won a gold medal in the pommel horse routine at the FIG World Cup in Melbourne. This was the first international medal of his career. The American gymnast followed it up with a silver medal at the 2021 Winter Cup in Indianapolis. Later in the same year, he stood first at the 2021 U.S. National Championships and, in the process, won his first elite-level national title. This win also helped him qualify for the Olympic trials.

However, luck did not favour him on the big day. At the Olympic trials, he fell off the pommel horse and finished third. The selection committee sent Alec Yoder to the Tokyo Olympics instead since he came in first place.

Stephen Nedoroscik’s redemption and subsequent emergence as one of the best American gymnasts

Had he taken a year or two to get over the heartbreak of not making it to the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, nobody would have thought less of him. But Stephen Nedoroscik chose the more difficult road of moving on from his failure and working on improving his performance.

It is often said that fortune favours the bold. Nedoroscik’s bravery in the face of a disappointing phase in his career was well-rewarded. A few months after he failed to qualify for the Olympic Games, the American gymnast defeated China’s Weng Hao and Japan’s Kazuma Kaya to win the topmost honour at the 2021 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Japan. This was the USA’s first-ever world championship title in artistic gymnastics. Nedoroscik also became the first American man to win a gold medal in artistic gymnastics since the 2011 edition of the tournament.

In 2023, Nedoroscik helped the USA win the gold medal in the men’s team event at the Pan American Games. A year later, he brushed aside his heartbreak of missing the Tokyo Olympics by qualifying for both the men’s team as well as the individual pommel horse event at the Paris Olympics 2024. He kept his golden (pun not intended) run going by winning a second gold medal alongside Lee Chih-kai at the 2024 FIG World Cup in Baku.

During the final of the team event at the Paris Olympics, Nedoroscik performed a relatively easy set that still managed to score 14.866 points, enough to secure a bronze medal for the USA. The other members of the USA team included Brody Malone, Fred Richard, Asher Hong and Paul Juda.

A look at Stephen Nedoroscik’s girlfriend and the social media hype around him

Since 2016, Stephen Nedoroscik has been in a relationship with former American gymnast Tess McCracken, whom he met while attending Pennsylvania State University. But why is his girlfriend in the news following the historic Olympic medal win?

While he was being called ‘Mr Pommel Horse’ by netizens, McCracken changed her X (formerly known as Twitter) profile name to ‘Ms Pommel Horse’, which, as expected, attracted the attention of popular media.

In addition, McCracken also put up a congratulatory post on Instagram with the caption; “Words can’t capture how proud I am of you ❤️”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Tess McCracken (@tess.mccracken)

During the final of the men’s team event in Paris, Nedoroscik was also caught on the camera with his eyes shut. We don’t know for sure if he was taking a full-fledged nap or just resting his eyes. However, folks on social media took full advantage of it to turn the Olympic medallist into a meme.

Welders, by Ben Shahn, 1943 pic.twitter.com/2VwFWAm7wb

— ArtButMakeItSports (@ArtButSports) July 29, 2024

Here’s another example:

how your email finds me pic.twitter.com/NCFCdQK0Co

— alyssa (@alyssalerae) July 29, 2024

Nedoroscik’s love for the Rubik’s Cube

Nedoroscik uses the Rubik’s Cube as a technique for alleviating stress and often posts about it on social media. After the medal win, netizens did not spare his hobby, either:

To truly understand Stephen Nedoroscik’s nerd credentials, you need to know that he is in Paris for the Olympics and posting to his insta story about solving a rubik’s cube in under 10 seconds. pic.twitter.com/2vFygJBifW

— John Green (@sportswithjohn) July 29, 2024

Whether he likes it or not, Stephen Nedoroscik has become an internet sensation for his pommel horse tricks and we encourage him to savour his newfound fame. After all, there is no such thing as bad publicity.

(Main and Featured Images Credits: Stephen Nedoroscik/Instagram)