'Clark Kent of pommel horse' Stephen Nedoroscik wins another medal

PARIS -- He wears glasses, except for when he's competing. He solves a Rubik's Cube hundreds of times a day in the athlete's village, aiming for a sub-10-second solve each time. His job is horse.

And he's become one of the breakout stars of these Olympics. The U.S. men's gymnastics team brought 25-year-old former Penn State gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik to Paris with one assignment: Hit pommel horse routines. He's the 2021 world champion in the event and competes one of the most difficult routines in the world on what is traditionally a low-scoring apparatus for Team USA.

And he's delivered. In Saturday's event final, Nedoroscik earned bronze, the only individual medal the U.S. men will take home from Paris. Ireland's Rhys McClenaghan won gold with a score of 15.533 and Nariman Kurbanov of Kazakhstan earned silver with a 15.433.

Nedoroscik competed a routine with the same difficulty score as he did during qualification -- a 6.4 -- but improved his execution score and earned a 15.3. He had barely dismounted the horse when his teammate, Brody Malone, who was on the floor with him during the competition, started jumping up and down before engulfing him in a bear hug.

"I do my best to take the pressure and turn it into excitement," Nedoroscik said after Monday's team final. "I wanna be the guy on pommel horse when it comes down to the wire, because I know it's gonna come down to the wire and I want it to be me."

Nedoroscik anchored the U.S. pommel horse lineup during the team final, was the last competitor of the meet and captivated fans with a routine that secured bronze for Team USA, the first Olympic medal for the U.S. men's team in 16 years.

Because Nedoroscik had little responsibility during the first five rotations of the meet, television cameras caught him cheering on his teammates and sitting quietly, visualizing his routine "hundreds of times" with his eyes closed.

Stephen Nedoroscik, the Clark Kent of pommel horse! 🫡🇺🇸 #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/1HfYFSbJvH

Then he removed his warmup and glasses and hit one of the best routines of the night. Almost instantly, "the Clark Kent of pommel horse" became an internet sensation. Memes of Nedoroscik swinging on an actual horse, as well as photos of a bespectacled Nedoroscik alongside images of Christopher Reeves' Clark Kent flooded social media. On Saturday, an American eyewear brand gave away free frames they dubbed "The Stephen" at 11:15 a.m. ET, the precise time the pommel horse final was scheduled to begin in Paris.

Saturday, wearing his trademark specs once again, Nedoroscik walked to the floor at Bercy Arena for the medal ceremony. On his way there, he tugged on his right ear, a message to his friends and family at home to let them know he's thinking about them. Then he bowed his head to receive his bronze medal and when he stood, he pushed his glasses back into place.

"Something changed after Winter Cup [in February]," Nedoroscik said Monday. "Before, I was like, I want to win. I need to win. Now it's, I need to do my first skill well. Then my second skill. It helps me to stay in the moment. You can see that in my consistency."

No eyewear needed.