'Just a surreal moment': Worcester native gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik savors securing berth on US Olympic team

Stephen Nedoroscik was seconds from finishing his splendid pommel horse routine at the U.S. Olympic Men’s Gymnastics Trials Saturday night in Minneapolis when he knew.

“I thought to myself,” Nedoroscik said Tuesday morning in a phone interview from Sarasota, Florida, "'If you put this dismount up, you’ll make the Olympic team.’”

Nedoroscik stuck it and emphatically and elatedly raised his arms while searching the crowd for his parents, Cheryl and John, and his girlfriend, Tess McCracken, who, as NBC Sports cameras showed, joined in Nedoroscik’s celebration.

“I think you can tell from the video how excited I was when I landed,” Nedoroscik said. “I think I knew in that moment I had done it.”

The 25-year-old Nedoroscik, who grew up in Worcester and took his first tumble at Sterling Academy of Gymnastics, joined Frederick Richard, Brody Malone, Paul Juda and Asher Hong on the U.S. Olympic team. They depart for the 2024 Paris Summer Games later this month.

The quintet is seeking to become the first men’s U.S. Olympics gymnastics team to win an Olympic medal since 2008.

“We are all very excited and looking forward to the opportunity ahead of us,” Nedoroscik said. “A team medal is the goal. With the talent that’s on this team, this could be the Olympic games we medal in again.”

Nedoroscik, a 2016 Worcester Tech graduate, is one of two gymnasts on the team from Massachusetts. Richard, who claimed the all-around title at the trials, is from Stoughton.

“Isn’t that awesome?” Nedoroscik said. “They always say that Region 6 (New England) is one of the weaker regions for gymnastics, but with Fred and me on this team, it’s going to be hard to say that.”

Over the last eight years, Nedoroscik, who earned his degree in electrical engineering from Penn State in 2020, has won two NCAA titles, four national championships and a 2021 world title on his specialty apparatus, the pommel horse.

After capturing the pommel horse national title at the 2021 U.S. Gymnastics Championships, Nedoroscik came up short in his quest to make that year’s Olympic team (the Games were pushed back a year because of COVID).

He used the setback as motivation for the World Championships a few months later in Kitakyushu, Japan, and, there, he turned in a gold-medal performance to become the first U.S. gymnast ever to win a world championship on pommel horse.

Missing out on the last Olympics continued to fuel Nedoroscik this time around.

“It definitely served as some motivation,” Nedoroscik said. “As I look back to last time, I’ve tried to have a very different mindset going into competitions nowadays. I take a lot of pressure off myself where back then I was putting so much pressure on myself. I looked back to last time and I think I’ve learned well from it.”

On the first night of men’s trials competition, last Thursday, Nedoroscik posted a score of 14.450 to lead the event.

“I knew going into (Saturday’s) routine if I hit a good routine mathematically it should lock my spot,” Nedoroscik said. “I tried not to think about that too much. It’s hard to fight those intrusive thoughts as you’re about to salute the most important routine in your life, but I was able to handle the pressure.

“It was just a surreal moment,” Nedoroscik said, “and to hear my name announced for the team was just as exciting as when I won Worlds.”

Having his parents and girlfriend there made the moment even more meaningful.

“They are my best cheerleaders,” Nedoroscik said. “They are always cheering for me. They are my biggest and best supporters and I’m forever thankful.”

After graduating from Penn State, Nedoroscik continued to train there and live near campus. He moved to Sarasota about 1½ years ago. He and other national team members train there at EVO Gymnastics.

When Nedoroscik arose in his Minneapolis hotel room Sunday morning, he realized what he accomplished the night before wasn’t just a dream, but a dream come true.

“It’s still surreal,” Nedoroscik said. “Accomplishing my goal feels really good. I’m still dreaming about what the experience is going to be like. I’m just so excited to get out there.”

Contact Jennifer Toland at jennier.toland@telegram.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @JenTolandTG.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: 'Just a surreal moment': Worcester native gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik savors securing berth on US Olympic team