Stephen Nedoroscik has now been described as a sleeper agent, akin to Clark Kent with the best way he takes off his glasses earlier than swinging into motion, however most might consult with him because the ‘Pommel Horse Man’.
Whereas most male gymnasts practice for a number of routines, Nedoroscik makes a speciality of only one: the pommel horse. On account of his specialty, the U.S. males’s gymnastics crew walked away from the Olympics with a bronze medal—the crew’s first in males’s gymnastics since 2008.
Mikulak, a three-time Olympian turned coach, informed the athlete that he didn’t must go all out. That 80% can be adequate, regardless that Mikulak knew full properly that Nedoroscik by no means does something—whether or not in his sport or fixing a Rubik’s Dice—at 80%.
The announcers struggled to place into phrases the strain Nedoroscik was underneath as Staff USA closed in on its first crew medal since 2008. “It’s important to trick your self,” stated Mikulak. “You’ve bought to ensure you don’t let all of the noise get into your head.”
The pommel horse was the ultimate occasion for Staff USA’s rotation, and the Penn State grad was the final member of Staff USA to aim his solely routine. The NBC broadcast even included a timer for the lead-up to Nedoroscik’s occasion.
Stephen Nedoroscik’s Timer is killing me pic.twitter.com/C9TsIlQJ2N
— Hannah (@babybergy37) July 29, 2024
After an extended wait, the Olympian carried out his strikes on the pommel horse in simply 40 seconds. His rating put Staff USA forward of Staff Nice Britain, which got here in fourth place, by two factors.
As a result of the pommel horse has lengthy been a weak point for the U.S. males’s nationwide crew program, Nedoroscik primarily determined to dedicate himself to a single pursuit. His perspective of “there’s nonetheless one thing to enhance” paid off for Staff USA.
“Going as much as pommel horse, the final man up in the entire competitors, I had a superb feeling that our crew was in an ideal spot. I simply knew I needed to go up there and do my job,” he informed NBC in an interview after the occasion.
And touchdown the dismount, he stated, was the “finest second of my life.”
Right here’s every little thing you could find out about Staff USA’s nearer …
simply pommel horse left, you understand what which means… pic.twitter.com/xtWX49hNGT
— USA Gymnastics (@USAGym) July 29, 2024
Who’s Stephen Nedoroscik?
Nedoroscik is from Worcester, Massachusetts, and majored in electrical engineering at Penn State.
The 25-year-old competed in faculty from 2017 to 2019, profitable two NCAA titles on the pommel horse in 2017 and 2018 and ending because the runner-up in 2019.
In 2014, a coach who had skilled the nationwide pommel-horse champion the earlier 12 months approached Nedoroscik and informed him he may very well be the nationwide champion someday, Time journal reported.
He went on to change into the primary American to win a gold medal on the pommel horse on the 2021 World Championships.
The 2024 Olympics marked his first time making Staff USA on the Olympic Video games.
Stephen Nedoroscik needed to rating huge on pommel horse for Staff USA within the final rotation…
AND HE DID. 🤯
📺: NBC and Peacock pic.twitter.com/hkhiHpovyh
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) July 29, 2024
What In regards to the Remainder of Staff USA?
Nedoroscik was only one competitor on one occasion within the crew closing for Staff USA. To get him in place to carry out that routine for the bronze medal have been Paul Juda, Fred Richard, Asher Hong, and Brody Malone. Richard and Juda each compete for Michigan, whereas Hong and Malone competed for Stanford.
Teammates Richard, Malone, Juda, and Hong had accomplished 17 straight routines with no miss, placing the Individuals in place to achieve the medal stand for the primary time since 2008 in Beijing.