What to Know
- Stephen Nedoroscik quickly became a fan favorite as Team USA won bronze in the men's gymnastics final.
- 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.
- If you missed the men's artistic gymnastics team event, you can catch Nedoroscik in action again in the pommel horse individual final on Wednesday, starting at 11:30 am EDT.
Team USA gymnastics has a new unlikely hero on the men's side.
As the team competed, and won its first Olympic medal since 2008 in the men's team event on Monday, Stephen Nedoroscik quickly became a fan favorite. The NBC Olympics camera crew captured him having a little shuteye before his turn on the pommel horse — Nedoroscik's only specialty out of all six apparatus that include floor, vault, rings, high bar and parallel bars.
Get top local stories in Connecticut delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC Connecticut's News Headlines newsletter.
The 25-year-old from Worcester, Massachusetts, may seem like a one-trick pony to non-gymnastics fans, but he sure knows his way around the pommel horse. He helped the men's team end a 16-year-long medal drought at the Paris Olympics with a major score of 15.200.
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.
Paris 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics
Watch all the action from the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games live on Peacock
Several X users have called the Penn State graduate "nerdy" but it's all extremely well-intentioned. Nedoroscik not only studied electrical engineering, he regularly boasts about the time it takes him to solve a Rubik's cube. His personal best? It's 8.664 seconds, according to his TikTok profile.
He even posted on his Instagram story about solving a cube at the Paris Olympics.
If you missed the men's artistic gymnastics team event, you can catch Nedoroscik in action again in the pommel horse individual final on Wednesday, starting at 11:30 am EDT.
