I’ll admit my introduction to the U.S. men’s national gymnastics team was via Taylor Swift.
With the prospect of an exciting announcement from the artist on Saturday night during NBC and Peacock’s Primetime in Paris, my roommate and I tuned into the 8 p.m. rebroadcast of the earlier Olympic swimming and gymnastics events. Unfortunately for us Swifties, there was no new news — just a re-airing of an Olympic promo video that was already posted on Twitter. But what my roommate and I discovered was arguably better than any new Swift announcement.
The men’s artistic gymnastics qualifications were on, and we were locked in: Oohing and ahhing at these gymnasts’ otherworldly athletic ability and their enormous muscles, and of course, rooting for the American team which comprises gymnasts Paul Juda, Frederick Richard, Brody Malone, Asher Hong and Stephen Nedoroscik.
Again, I know virtually nothing about how the scoring of gymnastics works. Everything seems pretty damn impressive to me until the announcer describes a performance as “disastrous” and I realize an athlete has made an ill-fated maneuver. I also, again, was oblivious to the skillset of each gymnast. So when Nedoroscik stepped up to the pommel horse, both my roommate and I were incredulous with laughter.
The camera panned to a nerdy-looking 5’7″ white boy with glasses and enormous arms. To be frank, the entire U.S. men’s gymnastics team is a bit disconcerting to look at: They’re like a gaggle of juiced-up mathletes. But Nedoroscik is especially dorky.
It’s rare to see any athlete, but especially an Olympic athlete, sport a pair of prescription glasses at a competition, and my roommate and I questioned to each other whether he was about to pommel horse with them on. Our query was answered immediately: Nedoroscik whipped off his frames and … squinted.
“He can’t even see the pommel horse?!” I screamed.
Turns out, the 25-year-old from Massachusetts is a pommel horse specialist — and it’s his only duty on the U.S. men’s national team. In true Clark Kent fashion, he took off his glasses and turned into a superhuman on that apparatus during Saturday’s qualifiers, which earned him a spot in the finals on Monday.
After that performance, my roommate and I were smitten. Nothing hotter than an unsuspecting nerdy guy who confidently excels at his craft.
On Monday, Nedoroscik continued to impress — as did his teammates, who had put together near-perfect routines, putting the Americans in position to medal for the first time in 14 years. All that was left was Nedoroscik’s event: pommel horse.
Take It From a Woman: We Want Rat Faces and Dad Bods
Welcome to hot rodent summerCameras panned to Nedoroscik who was gearing up for his performance with a quick nap. The image of the guy partly responsible for delivering a medal to the U.S. men’s national team since 2008 ostensibly sleeping before a vital routine was ripe for meme potential. Almost instantaneously my Twitter timeline was filled with the snapshot, along with newfound praise for and excitement over Nedoroscik, who demolished on pommel horse and secured a bronze medal for the U.S. team.
The reaction from Nedoroscik’s teammates can only be described as wholesome. It’s also probably the most excited a group of Olympians has been over landing third place.
Turns out, I’m not the only one obsessed with this pommel horse champion. After his brilliant performance, the internet has become fixated on Nedoroscik, propelling him into virality with memes and tweets that juxtapose his endearing nerdiness and dominant athletic ability.
“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,” author John Green posted along with a screenshot of Nedoroscik’s Instagram story.
“i hope stephen nedoroscik knows that i would die for him,” another user tweeted with a TikTok video of an enthusiastic Nedoroscik playing with a gymnastic toy.
Unfortunately for me and the other Nedoroscik lover girls, it seems he has a partner, who on X goes by the handle @stephens_gf. Her bio reads “Ms. Pommel Horse.”
Usually, I would scoff at a woman who makes her entire identity her boyfriend, but in this case, I understand, girl. I, too, would identify as Ms. Pommel Horse.
More Like This
This article was featured in the InsideHook newsletter. Sign up now.
