The Olympics, perhaps more than any other sporting event, have a transformative power. Sure, winning a Super Bowl can make an already-famous quarterback a little more famous. But the Olympics can turn someone you’ve never heard of into—at least for two summer weeks—one of the most famous people on earth.
That’s the case, more or less, with the American gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik, who entered Paris 2024 a member of the men’s gymnastics team but will leave these Games known simply as Pommel Horse Guy. Nedoroscik, 25, captured hearts, minds, and memes starting with the team competition, when cameras captured him, head back and eyes closed behind his black-framed glasses, waiting meditatively for his rotation. His routine helped deliver the Americans a bronze medal—their first since 2008. The self-described nerd with an engineering degree, a Rubik’s cube habit, and exactly one Olympic job (pommel horse) quickly became the breakout viral star of these Olympics.
And then he went out on Saturday and nailed his routine in the individual pommel competition, securing a second bronze. Which made me wonder, when we connected early Sunday: when you win two Olympic medals, what do you do with them? Do you leave them in your room? Send ‘em home with mom?
If you’re Stephen Nedoroscik, you take them with you everywhere you go. “They are right here for you,” he said, hefting them for the camera. “They’re so heavy I can hardly pick them up.” They won’t be going far, he explained: “They’re firmly in my sight for the rest of my life.”
So you’re 24 hours out from ending your Olympics with two medals. How are you feeling?
Yeah, I feel awesome. I’m on top of the world still. Yesterday’s performance was just a surreal experience to have, and I’m just so happy with how everything went.
What have you done since then? What were the last 24 hours like?
The last 24 hours was really all about just hanging out with my friends and family that came down to watch me. The thing about the Olympics is it’s a job. You have to really stay locked in, and you have a job to do when you’re out here, so I couldn’t really see them very much throughout this entire experience. So when I finally got done yesterday, I was able to go and hang out with my girlfriend, my family, one of my best friends, and my club coaches. So I really just wanted to do that with them.
Take me back a week ago. In your wildest dreams, what are your expectations for these Olympics?
This is the expectation. I wanted to get that team medal more than anything. Getting on this team as a specialist was a very crazy scenario, and I was so lucky to have been chosen to be on this team. But I was nervous. I was like, “Dude, you have three routines that you hopefully get to show in front of the world.” It’s a terrifying experience to look at it, but at the same time, I handled it so well. And I just wanted to bring home some hardware for the team, and anything other than that was just a bonus.
Was there a moment where you were like, “All right, this is intense, this is the Olympics, it’s crazy, but actually I feel like I’ve got a handle on it?”
Yeah, that’s exactly how I felt this entire week. I walked in here thinking, “Oh my gosh, am I going to be able to handle the nerves?” But something about being here made me think, “You’ve already done the hard work. You’ve made it to this point. You deserve to be here.” And that took a lot of that pressure off my shoulders, I think.
I could see a world where specializing in one discipline maybe adds pressure. I could also see a world where it relieves pressure, because you have the one thing you’re focused on. How do you think about that balance?
So most gymnasts would agree that it definitely adds some pressure, especially because as an all-arounder, that first routine that you get to do, you get to put your toes in the water and test the temperature, see how you’re feeling. And then let’s say you’re really nervous that first event and you make it through, now you’re good for the next five. But as a specialist, we never really know how we’re going to feel until it’s time to get up on that apparatus and show it off, and there’s really only that one chance to make an impression. So it definitely adds a little bit of that intensity to the moment, I think.
I feel like that’s when people really started clocking you and getting excited, seeing you locking in and getting ready during the team event. When did you get a sense that, Oh, something funny is happening here, people are really paying attention?
Funny enough, it took three hours after that competition for me to even check my phone, because right afterwards, of course, with how drug testing works out here, I got chosen. So I didn’t really see anything for three hours until I finally got to go and sit down for dinner with my family. And I only got about 15 minutes with them, and my girlfriend goes, “Dude, have you looked at your phone?” And I’m like, “What are you talking about?” She’s like, “You’re trending on Twitter.” And I was like, “You’re joking me.” It’s insane.
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