U.S. men’s gymnastics team medals for first time since 2008 at Paris 2024 Olympics

PARIS – A mechanical engineer, Rubik’s Cube-solving 25-year-old by day, and an Olympic medal-winning gymnast by night.

Stephen Nedoroscik, known online as “pommel horse guy,” performed the final event Monday that resulted in the first men’s gymnastics team medal for the U.S. since 2008.

And just five years ago, he was in Tempe, competing in the Arizona State Invitational in Tempe and winning his discipline for Penn State.

What a journey it’s been.

Making the U.S. men’s Olympics team wasn’t a sure thing for Nedoroscik. The Penn State graduate specializes in the pommel horse, and with limited spots on the team, the USOPC was taking a risk by choosing him.

He came to Paris to only compete on the pommel horse, and he needed to crush it.

He crushed it.

Nedoroscik scored 14.866 on the last event, which narrowly defeated team Great Britain for the bronze medal.

“As I was doing that routine, I was like, ‘If I hit this set, we (will) medal,’’ Nedoroscik said in an interview with “Entertainment Tonight” Tuesday. “I mean, it was just a surreal moment. And then when the guys picked me up, that right there solidified it for me. That was the moment I was like, ‘We actually did it.’”

Nedoroscik’s medal-winning performance took the internet by storm.

The cameras captured Nedoroscik with his eyes closed, head back and glasses on before he competed. His glasses are an important part of the wardrobe. Nedoroscik has strabismus – a condition that causes eye misalignment.

Social media users compared his glasses appearance to Clark Kent, Superman’s alter ego.

The comparison made even more sense when Nedoroscik took off his glasses, gripped the pommel horse and put together his heroic performance.

Nedoroscik has a chance to seize even more Olympic glory later this week. The former world champion scored a 15.200 – tied for the highest score during the qualifying round. He will compete in the pommel horse final Saturday at 8:16 a.m. MST.

The rest of the men’s gymnastics team – Frederick Richard, Paul Juda, Brody Malone and Asher Hong – put together impressive performances to earn the medal.

The team placed fifth in the qualification event Saturday, placing behind China, Japan, Great Britain and Ukraine.

The second time around, the team stuck every routine, and Nedoroscik’s performance was the cherry on top.

“They used to have pictures in my gym of the past Olympic teams that medaled, and I always look at that like, ‘Man, what if I was one of those people one day?’ (and) now we are, which is crazy,” Richard said.

The 20-year-old University of Michigan junior shined at the team competition. He nailed every event, which was crucial for the team’s first medal in 16 years.

Both Richard and Juda placed top 15 in the all-around competition, which took place Wednesday night.

On the other hand, the women’s gymnastics team took home gold for the third time in the last four Olympics. The United States was the only team to earn a medal in both the men’s and women’s team competition – and the first time both teams captured a medal since 2008.

The women’s team controlled the lead after every event and won the team competition by 5.774 points.

Phoenix native Jade Carey commanded her only event, the vault, in the team competition by scoring 14.800 — right behind Simone Biles for the team’s top score. It’s the Mountain Ridge High School graduate’s second gold medal after she won the floor exercise individual competition during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

“It feels really, really, really special just to be part of the team and contribute last night, and just have so much fun doing what we love out there, so taking home a gold medal feels really special,” Carey told Oregon’s KGW News.

Carey has the chance to pick up another medal, after she qualified for the vault final, which will take place Saturday at 7:20 a.m. MST.

Both Biles and Sunisa Lee performed well in the qualifying and team competitions. The pair will be representing the United States in the women’s all-around competition that takes place Thursday. Biles won the all-around competition at the 2016 Rio Games and Lee captured it during the Tokyo Olympics.

Biles has earned five gold medals in her career. If she wins the all-around competition, she will become the first U.S. gymnast to win six gold medals.

The women’s team will be heavily represented in each of the four event finals that will take place from Saturday to Monday. Biles will be competing in the vault alongside Carey, Lee qualified for the uneven bars final, Biles and Lee will be battling in the balance beam final and Biles and Jordan Chiles will represent the United States in the floor exercise final.

The best women’s gymnastics team in the world will have plenty of opportunities to bring more hardware back to the United States.