Stephen Nedoroscik, The Viral Pommel Horse Guy, Revealed What He Was Actually Thinking About Right Before His Big Win

Stephen Nedoroscik, the nerdy pommel horse guy, is a bona-fide American treasure.

Team USA's gymnasts, including superstar Simone Biles , showed up and showed out at the 2024 Paris Olympics, bringing home three gold medals, one silver, and five bronze for their sport.

But, Stephen, who competed in the pommel horse during the men's all-around with fellow gymnasts Paul Juda, Fred Richard, Brody Malone, and Asher Hong, had the internet going wild when he helped secure the US men's gymnastics team medal in 16 years.

Stephen also took home a bronze medal for pommel horse during the men's individual against Irish gymnast Rhys McClenaghan's gold and Nariman Kurbanov of Kazakhstan's silver.

What Stephen described to People as "the greatest moment of my life" instantly became one of the greatest moments on the internet when everyone couldn't stop talking about his Superman-like transformation.

Now, Stephen revealed what he was actually thinking about when he first made the Clark Kent switcheroo, and I think he deserves another medal for his wholesomeness.

During an interview on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon , the 25-year-old gymnast said that when he closed his eyes right before his turn on the pommel horse, he was "doing my breathing exercises" and "visualizing a lot."

"After a really long day where I'm waiting around five hours to finally compete and represent [at the all-around final]," Stephen explained. "We get there earlier and then warm up and then march out and compete. So finally, when it got to horse, I needed to calm down."

"So, all I'm doing there is tilting my head back and doing my breathing exercises and visualizing a lot — like a 100 times."

Stephen explained what typically happens before a competition, noting that little luck was on his side for the pommel horse's placement. "Usually you have a draw at a competition of what event you're starting on. So, we got really lucky for day one [because] our draw was pommel horse was first," he added. "So it's a great example because I literally got to warm up last in the back gym and then immediately competed."

Stephen said about the Olympic round, "So that meant that that competition in total was about an hour long for me versus ending on pommel horse, where we warm it up and then you go out and compete it, and it's about a five-hour day instead."

And as if he wasn't cool enough, Stephen showed Jimmy that he's also good at solving Rubik's Cube, which he solved in less than 16 seconds.

At that moment, right before the pommel horse, Stephen might have been doing breathing exercises and visualizations, but the rest of us were witnessing greatness.

U.S. Olympic medalist Stephen Nedoroscik deserves every bit of the attention, respect, and hilarious memes.

Go Stephen and Team USA!