You’d be forgiven for not knowing Stephen Nedoroscik’s name until this week.
The soft-spoken 25-year-old American gymnast, a native of Worcester, Massachusetts, has specialized in the pommel-horse discipline for nearly a decade. But to Olympics fanatics and the chronically online alike, he has, over the span of the last 24 hours, become "Pommel Horse Guy," America’s ostensible newest superhero, known for charging from sleepy, bespectacled bookworm to brilliantly aura’ed bigshot when called to duty.
Nedoroscik helped the US men’s gymnastics team win bronze in the team finals at the 2024 Olympics on Monday. He was the last to go (after a two-hour wait, during which he took what appeared to be little naps, much to the internet’s delight), and his was a crucial contribution: If he messed up, the team could have fallen out of the top three. (The men’s team had not won a medal since 2008, in Beijing—another bronze.)
Worth noting: his score of 14.866 was the second-highest pommel-horse tally of any gymnast’s during the contest, which bodes well for his individual event, set for this coming Saturday, August 3.
We spoke with Nedoroscik over the phone in Paris as he headed to USA House to celebrate his win (and to watch the US women’s gymnastics team win gold in their final).
Vogue: Stephen! Congratulations on the bronze medal last night, and an impressive showing in your own right. What does it all feel like today? Is it surreal to be the Olympics’ newest breakout star?
Stephen Nedoroscik: After the competition, landing that dismount and celebrating with my team, I didn’t have my phone for about an hour or two there, so I had no idea what was happening behind the scenes. Finally, I went and looked, and I was like, What the heck is going on? It was unreal, just the amount of people that were reaching out to me. There were also a lot of people reaching out about buying into men’s gymnastics, and saying, “I think I’m a fan of this sport now after watching you and your team’s performance.” It is just unbelievable, and it feels absolutely amazing.
And well-deserved! What’s been your favorite reaction—or meme, because you’re viral right now—so far?
When I finally did get my phone back, my girlfriend sent me one of the memes that said, “Steven Nedoroscik is a sleeper agent. He sits there with his eyes closed,” and it’s me visualizing my routine as I’m sitting there waiting. And then it says, “Then he takes his glasses off and he’s Superman,” and it’s another picture of me standing by the horse, getting ready to do my set. I just thought it was hilarious.
Are you a consumer of meme culture? Are you super online?
I’m totally online all the time. I am 100% one of those guys that, after a long day, will sit on the couch and doom-scroll on TikTok.
We were impressed by how relaxed you seemed—almost zoned out—while waiting to go. How did you do that? How were you so zen?
First off, I’ve been a specialist for eight years, and I’ve had so many different approaches to competitions. It’s all trial and error, but I like to say that dealing with your nerves is a muscle you have to exercise. Especially this year, with how much I’ve competed, I feel I’ve been put into an environment in which I’ve been nervous so many times that I finally found that zen state that I can reach.
When I’m sitting there before doing my horse routine, I’m zoning everything out, and in my head, all I’m focusing on is controlling my breathing, getting my heart rate down, and visualizing my routine. One thing that helps me psychologically: I’ve been told many times that being nervous is the same thing as being excited. In my head, I’m reframing whatever fears I may have. If I’m scared I’m going to fall, instead, I’ll convert that to thinking, I’m excited to represent my country.
It’s the small things that, psychologically, really help you. I’m not sure that many people notice this, but, I give a quick smile as I salute the judges before I start my routine, and once again, that’s just another psychological thing that I’ve heard in the past: If you’re upset, scared, or worried, you force yourself to smile. Because you’re firing those muscles, you will be happier.
Great advice. Reframing anxiety into excitement isn’t something I’ve ever considered. Are you able to do that in life outside of sport? We live in an overstimulating world…
Yeah. I’m definitely, in general, just a pretty calm person, but I go through moods. Sometimes I’m the life of the party, sometimes I just like to sit there and kick back and chill. With things like public speaking, I’m very anxious. But the same tools apply—I use them there, as well.
Does winning last night—and seeing the internet’s reaction—change anything going into the individual pommel horse event? Is it a confidence boost, or… will you not factor it in?
I’ve had so many competitions in the past where the first day has gone bad, and then I do well. I’ve had competitions where the first day goes well and the second day goes badly. For this competition, here at the Olympic Games, I’ve decided that every day is a clean slate.
What I did on Saturday doesn’t affect what I do on Monday, and what I did yesterday is not going to affect what I do on Saturday. I’m just going to continue to train how I have, and when I’m out there representing Team USA during that horse final, I’m just going to do the best gymnastics I can in that moment.
What was it that originally drew you to the pommel horse? Or, what has made you stick with it?
The thing about pommel horse is, it’s not just the basics—it’s also the approach. I’m a very mathematical, scientific-minded person. I love to solve problems, and I’ll be recording every single turn I do, and questioning, Where did it go wrong? What did I do right? It’s almost like every turn is a puzzle that I’m trying to solve, and I just love that aspect of it.
What, if anything, do you want to tell your new fans?
I would say that yesterday’s competition was so exciting—a historical moment for Team USA gymnastics—but at the same time, that level of excitement, the level of energy that you saw throughout the competition, is pretty much identical to a lot of our other competitions. I just really hope that people, after yesterday, can buy into men’s gymnastics. In the new age of social media, I think that us bringing home that bronze medal could really be the start of something big [for men’s gymnastics] in this country, and I just really hope that people will dive into it.
Lastly, we have to ask: Have any eyewear brands reached out? X was crying out for an optical deal.
No eyewear companies have reached out that I know of, but… the doors are open!