It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s the “Clark Kent of pommel horse” with another bronze medal performance at the Paris Olympics.
Stephen Nedoroscik, who helped the USA men’s gymnastics team to its first medal since 2008 on Monday, further solidified his spot in the hearts of Americans by winning a second bronze medal on Saturday, this time in the individual pommel horse finals.
The Worcester native turned in a solid, error-free performance which was good enough to garner a score of 15.300. Reigning world-champion Rhys McClenaghan of Ireland secured the gold medal with a flawless performance of 15.533 to edge silver medalist Nariman Kurbanov (15.433) of Kazakhstan by a mere 0.100 points.
The bespectacled pommel horse and Rubik’s Cube specialist has become an international sensation this week, going viral on various social media platforms as “Pommel Horse Guy.” In true Superman fashion, Nedoroscik draped the U.S. flag over his back as a cape to celebrate his third-place finish after Saturday’s finals.
“It has just been an amazing experience,” Nedoroscik told reporters in Paris. “I came with a great group of guys, and every second of it I’m going to cherish forever.”
Locally in Central Massachusetts, the gymnastics community came out to support their Olympian at a watch party hosted by the Sterling Academy of Gymnastics.
Nedoroscik, a 2016 graduate of Worcester Technical High School and Penn State alum, trained in that gym from age 6 to 17. A large poster of Nedoroscik hangs on the wall celebrating his 2021 world championship in pommel horse, America’s first gold medal in that event.
It’s a safe bet the gym will soon dedicate more wall space to celebrate Nedoroscik’s new hardware — two bronze medals at the 2024 Olympics.
Current gymnastic students, coaches and parents donned red, white and blue attire, waived American flags and chanted “U-S-A” in the main gym while sitting on stacked gymnastic mats arranged around a large screen featuring a live stream of the event.
Matt Carbone, general manager and girl’s team coach at the facility, noted how monumental Nedoroscik’s recent triumphs have been for the sport of gymnastics.
“Our sport doesn’t get much coverage. What Stephen has done for the world of men’s gymnastics is huge,” Carbone said. “I’m so excited to see all these people here — friends and families and customers.
“People from the community that don’t even know anything about gymnastics are here. This is the exposure that gymnastics needed.”
Carbone’s family has owned and operated the Sterling Academy of Gymnastics for 32 years, opening in 1992. He remembers Stephen’s days in the gym fondly, training with coaches Bob and Liz Gonzalez.
“He was a crazy little gymnast like so many of them are. He was rambunctious, he ran around, he was wild,” Carbone added. “But he always had an incredible level of talent. The determination and desire was all his.”
Nothing has been formally planned, but it’s clear that Nedoroscik’s return to the United States, including Worcester and central Massachusetts, will be quite a cause for celebration.
“We have a world champion and an Olympic bronze medalist and hopefully he’ll be coming back to visit us soon,” said Carbone.
Mike Vigneux is a freelance writer in Worcester with more than 20 years of experience in the fields of municipal government, communications, and public relations. An avid fan of all sports, Mike enjoys telling the stories of local athletes and their teams. He holds two degrees from Clark University, a bachelor of arts in Communication and a master of science in Professional Communication. He can be reached at Mikevigs@gmail.com
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