Team USA’s Stephen Nedoroscik returned to Sarasota, Florida, on Tuesday night after becoming one of the breakout stars of the 2024 Olympics. WFLA’s Linnie Supall reports.
Gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik is back in Sarasota after winning two bronze medals–and the hearts of all Team USA fans–at the Paris Olympics.
25-year-old Nedoroscik, now also known as the “Clark Kent of pommel horse,” landed on Tuesday after propelling the Americans to their first medal in men’s gymnastics in 16 years and reaching the podium in his individual event.
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The specialist walked off the plane grinning in his signature glasses, and pumped his fist in the air to the cheers of a crowd before embracing his girlfriend.
Nedoroscik then posed with children as they held signs that said "Welcome back Steve" and "Mr. Pommel Horse." Joyful onlookers also held pictures of his face on a stick as eager fans took selfies.
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He politely asked fans to wait for autographs, which he said he plans to sign at EVO Gym, where he and teammates Brody Malone and alternate Shane Wiskus train.
"The Pommel Horse Guy"
The world was introduced to Nedoroscik, aka “The Pommel Horse Guy,” when he helped the U.S. men’s gymnastics team win its first Olympic medal in 16 years.
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The bespectacled Olympian from Worcester, Massachusetts, sat practically still during the men's team final waiting his turn to take to the pommel horse, his only event in Paris. When it was time to go, he delivered 45 seconds of brilliance.
He did not miss, delivering “the exclamation point” with a 14.866 to finish off a performance the U.S. men's program hopes provides serious momentum heading into the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.
“I kind of in that moment was like, ‘All right, let’s run it back and let’s go out there and do our thing,’” Nedoroscik said.
The celebration began before his feet even hit the mat on his dismount and Nedoroscik was an instant meme on social media.
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.
