Before it was his turn to take center stage at the Paris Olympic Games, Stephen Nedoroscik leaned back and closed his eyes.
But the bespectacled Olympian wasn鈥檛 snoozing.
Nedoroscik, whose speciality is pommel horse and whose routine would decide whether the US men鈥檚 artistic gymnastics team would make it to the Olympic podium for the first time in 16 years, was tracing his steps in his head. He breathed slowly to lower his heart rate, he told .
When it was his turn, Nedoroscik ditched his glasses and Team USA jacket and headed to the pommel horse. And in a near-perfect 40-second routine of quickly swinging both legs around his body and flinging himself into a walking handstand, Nedoroscik secured the team鈥檚 bronze medal. His teammates鈥� reactions were as euphoric as they might have been if they鈥檇 won gold.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what鈥檚 happening, did we do it?鈥� he his teammates after they hoisted him into the air, triumphant.
Though they won together, it鈥檚 Nedoroscik who鈥檚 broken out as the fan favorite, even with his limited performance time. He鈥檚 earning for the unassuming demeanor and similar specs he wears before losing both to become a confident pommel horse hero.
Nedoroscik, for his part, thinks the memes he鈥檚 inspired are 鈥渁wesome.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 representing people who wear glasses well,鈥� he said, beaming, in a Tuesday appearance on 鈥淭oday.鈥�
Here鈥檚 what to know about Nedoroscik, the U.S. men鈥檚 gymnastics team鈥檚 very own Superman.
He's Team USA's pommel horse pro
While teammates like Brody Malone and Fred Richard flit between events like rings and vault, Nedoroscik only performs on one apparatus: pommel horse. He鈥檚 the first American gymnast to make the Olympic team as a specialist in a single event, to his training gym, Evo Gymnastics in Sarasota, Florida.
He dropped the other events in artistic gymnastics seven year ago, he USA Gymnastics, after winning two Junior Olympic National titles in pommel horse and joining Penn State鈥檚 men鈥檚 gymnastics program.
Specializing has succeeded: Commentators that he鈥檚 perhaps the best in the world at what he does.
Nedoroscik, it seems, takes himself less seriously than he does his sport.
鈥淚 go internationally and I see all the other (pommel) horse specialists. It seems to be a universal thing that we鈥檙e quirky people that are kind of just fun,鈥� he said.
He was a world champion before Paris
Nedoroscik and the US men鈥檚 gymnastics team earned a bronze medal in Paris, but on another world stage, he鈥檚 won gold.
At the 2021 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Kitakyushu, Japan, conditions were less than ideal for Nedoroscik to medal at all: The phenom had broken his hand.
It didn鈥檛 matter: Nedoroscik still came in first 鈥� the first time the U.S. had ever a gold medal for pommel horse at a world championship.
Stateside, he鈥檚 been crowned the US pommel horse champion four times, tying the record for most pommel horse wins, per .
The Paris Games are Nedoroscik鈥檚 first Olympics 鈥� he missed the chance in 2020 after a disappointing performance in the Olympic trials.
鈥淚 messed up,鈥� he CNN affiliate WBBH in Fort Myers, Florida, ahead of this year鈥檚 Games. 鈥淚 felt the pressure and kind of crumbled under it.鈥�
But the blow didn鈥檛 keep him down for long. Nedoroscik decided to 鈥渞edirect that energy immediately,鈥� get back in the gym and keep training. He followed up those disappointing trials with his thrilling performance at the world championships, and since then, he鈥檚 kept on winning.
He鈥檚 a puzzle fiend
As if competing at the highest level of gymnastics weren鈥檛 enough, Nedoroscik is also an über-competitive puzzler. His personal record for solving a Rubik鈥檚 Cube is 8.6 seconds.
He took time off from 鈥渃ubing,鈥� though, after a particularly hard puzzle consumed his downtime. His gymnastics teammate Fred Richard turned him on to 鈥渒iller sudoku,鈥� a version of the puzzle that involves more math. Nedoroscik found a killer sudoku puzzle that claimed to be the 鈥渨orld鈥檚 hardest,鈥� and after 45 hours of puzzling, he became the 43rd person in the world to solve it.
The experience nearly ruined the Rubik鈥檚 Cube for him, he said.
鈥淚 tried to get back into cubing, and it wasn鈥檛 the same,鈥� he USA Gymnastics ahead of the Olympics. 鈥淚 was kind of lost.鈥�
His cubing slump ended along with the US men鈥檚 gymnastics drought at the Olympics. He brought his trusty cube with him to Paris and solved it on the day of the team final in just over nine seconds.
鈥淚t鈥檚 stress relief,鈥� he said on his Tuesday 鈥淭oday鈥� appearance. 鈥淪ometimes I make the excuse that it鈥檚 good for wrist rehab, too.鈥�
He competes with an eye sensitivity
The specs are cool for Clark Kent comparisons, but without them, Nedoroscik wouldn鈥檛 be able to see his adoring crowd at the Olympics. Nedoroscik has , or crossed eyes, and has trouble seeing without them.
On 鈥淭oday,鈥� while wearing host Hoda Kotb鈥檚 borrowed Ray-Bans, Nedoroscik said that when he鈥檚 up on the pommel horse without his glasses, he depends not on sight but feel.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 even really see when I鈥檓 doing my gymnastics,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 all in the hands. I can feel everything.鈥�
He hasn鈥檛 always competed with limited vision. Nedoroscik used to wear goggles on the pommel horse during his time at Penn State, but he in June that he 鈥渉adn鈥檛 really felt like鈥� wearing them on the Olympic stage.
He hinted that the new look may have had something to do with testing his own limits.
鈥淪ometimes, I like to push the boundaries,鈥� he said.
Pushing paid off in Paris. His kryptonite is not, it seems, the pressure of performing on the world鈥檚 biggest stage in sports.
He鈥檒l have a brief break between the Olympics and his next venture: Swinging around the U.S. with Simone Biles and some of his men鈥檚 gymnastics teammates on the . The pommel horse pro will take the stage beginning in September.
