Stephen Nedoroscik was given a number of nicknames on his long and dizzying journey to Olympic success in Paris this summer.
The 25-year-old sealed a first Olympic medal in 16 years for the US men’s gymnastics team with his pommel horse routine during Monday’s final.
Nedoroscik has now become an internet sensation, with fans branding him an ‘American icon’, ‘pommel horse guy’ and even likening the glasses-wearing gymnast to Clark Kent.
‘Obsessed with this guy on the US men’s gymnastics team who’s only job is pommel horse, so he just sits there until he’s activated like a sleeper agent, whips off his glasses like Clark Kent and does a pommel horse routine that helps deliver the team its first medal in 16 years,’ one supporter wrote on social media.
But Nedoroscik was known as ‘spider monkey’ during his youth, when he would ‘shimmy up the walls and scare babysitters.’
Stephen Nedoroscik – pictured with his girlfriend Tess – won gymnastics bronze in Paris
The gymnast scored 14.866 on the pommel horse on Monday to secure the medal for his team
‘On my first day (at school), I climbed a rope all the way to the top. After that they invited me to join the gymnastics team. We accepted it and that was it,’ Nedoroscik recently revealed.
Two decades on, his nerveless display on the pommel horse helped Nedoroscik win bronze alongside teammates Frederick Richard, Brody Malone, Paul Juda and Asher Hong.
Nedoroscik suffers from strabismus, a condition more typically known as crossed eyes. It can lead to double vision but the gymnast was not wearing glasses when he scored 14.866 on the pommel horse on Monday.
Nedoroscik told the Today programme he is ‘representing people that wear glasses well’, revealing that though his vision is ‘not necessarily clear… the thing about pommel horse is if I keep [my glasses] on, they’re gonna fly somewhere.
‘When I go up on the pommel horse, it’s all about feeling the equipment. I don’t even really see when I’m doing my gymnastics. It’s all in the hands – I can feel everything,’ he explained.
Nedoroscik has become an internet sensation, with fans likening the gymnast to Clark Kent
The 25-year-old gymnast became the subject of countless social media memes on Monday
He won two national championships while studying electrical engineering at Penn State but ‘messed up’ qualification for the Toyko Olympics.
He will go for pommel horse gold in the individual event on Saturday. Before Monday’s team final, meanwhile, Nedoroscik solved a Rubik’s cube in 9.3 seconds – just shy of his personal best. He is also a fan of Killer Sudoku and reportedly spent nearly 50 hours solving one puzzle.
He had already become the first American gymnast in history to make the Olympic team as a specialist in a single event.
It was around a decade ago that the Massachusetts native decided to dedicate himself to the pommel horse, an event that has long been a weakness for the US men’s national team program.
Nedoroscik’s girlfriend Tess McCracken posted throwback pictures alongside the gymnast
Nedoroscik is mobbed by his teammates after his pommel horse routine at the Paris Games
‘I don´t know how I don’t lose my mind,’ Nedoroscik admitted before the Games. ‘But every day I go into the gym and there´s still something to do. There´s still something to improve.’
He has shot to superstardom following his performance in Paris and Nedoroscik’s girlfriend Tess McCracken posted throwback pictures alongside the gymnast following his bronze medal.
The couple celebrated their eight-year anniversary, with McCracken sharing snaps from every year dating back to 2016.
Fans on social media joked that she was marking her territory, letting the world know that Nedoroscik is taken.
