US gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik, aka ‘pommel horse guy,’ wins bronze in event final

Stephen Nedoroscik did what he does best at the men's gymnastics pommel horse final Aug. 3, winning bronze with a 15.300 score.

Nedoroscik now has two bronze medals from Paris, after his closing pommel horse performance in the team final July 29 put the United States on the podium for the first time since 2008.

Nedoroscik is a pommel horse specialist, and it's the only event he competed in in the team final. His quickly became an internet meme during his nearly three hour wait for his turn on the mat.

He reacted to becoming the internet's newest meme — while creating another meme-worthy moment as he wore TODAY co-anchor Hoda Kotb's sunglasses on July 30.

The U.S. men's gymnast wore his team bronze medal and Hoda's black sunglasses as he sat next to two of his teammates, Brody Malone and Asher Hong, while on TODAY to discuss their July 29 performance.

During the chat, Hoda asked Nedoroscik how he feels about becoming a meme, referring to a photo of the gymnast looking calm, cool and in mediation while wearing his glasses, just before he helped score the bronze medal for the U.S. at the July 29 final.

“I think they’re awesome,” he said of the memes with a laugh. “I’m representing people that wear glasses well.”

On July 29, those memes started making rounds on the internet. In the comments section of a post by @NBCOlympics on X about how he was “getting in the zone,” users called the viral image of Nedoroscik an “iconic picture.”

People were even comparing the 25-year-old’s look to Clark Kent, the alter ego of Superman.

“Clark Kent while sitting on the sidelines — Superman on the pommel horse,” one user commented on the viral photo.

“Nerves of steel!” another chimed in.

While on TODAY July 30, Nedoroscik, who Hoda said was wearing her sunglasses because of an eye sensitivity, shared what was running through his head in that moment, just minutes before his routine.

"I'm doing my breathing exercises," he told Hoda and Savannah Guthrie. "We always try to keep our heart rate down and through that five minutes I'm sitting there, I'm just visualizing my routine over and over ... that's all I'm doing in my head."

Nedoroscik also told the co-anchors what it’s like to take his glasses off before getting on his specialty, the pommel horse.

“It’s not necessarily clear, but the thing about pommel horse is if I keep them on, they’re gonna fly somewhere,” he said of his vision. “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.”

The gymnast addressed yet another viral sensation social media users have latched onto — his love of solving Rubik's cubes. He solved a cube in 9.5 seconds on the day of the competition, he said.

"It's a stress relief, sometimes I make the excuse that it's good for wrist rehab too," Nedoroscik said. "I love to solve it — it's just fun."

On X, Instagram and TikTok, users haven't been able to get enough of the glasses-wearing, Rubik’s cube-solving athlete who has become the hometown hero of the U.S. men’s gymnastics team.

"Stephen Nedoroscik had to score big on pommel horse for Team USA in the last rotation," @NBCOlympics wrote in a July 28 post on TikTok. "AND HE DID."

The Nedoroscik mania comes as he dismounted from his July 29 pommel horse routine with a score of 14.866, according to NBC Sports.

On July 29, Nedoroscik sat on the sideline for almost three hours as his teammates performed routines for the first five events of the competition before his bottom-of-the-ninth moment. According to NBC News, Nedoroscik’s place on the team has been considered “somewhat controversial” because, unlike most high-level gymnasts who compete in multiple events, he performed just one.

According to NBC News, the team won its last medal in 2008, toward the tail end of the George W. Bush administration. The team’s 16-year dry spell prompted USA Gymnastics to tap him in hopes that he would deliver on his specialty, the pommel horse.

Nedoroscik's only event for the games boosted Team USA’s Men’s Artistic Team All-Around overall score to 257.793, clinching them the bronze — and the words of encouragement from fans followed suit.

"That’s the new Superman," one user on X wrote.

Another fan penned, “I love this nerdy kid from Worcester who’s at the Olympics just to do pommel horse and only pommel horse and he is literally Team USA’s best chance at Olympic gold for just pommel horse. And today he’s literally just hanging out until it’s time for pommel horse. LOVE HIM."

Author John Green wrote in a post, “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."

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This article was originally published on TODAY.com