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  • Worcester Telegram & Gazette

    Worcester's Stephen Nedoroscik's clutch performance helps United States to first gymnastics medal since 2008

    By Jim Wilson, Worcester Telegram & Gazette,

    6 days ago

    Worcester's Stephen Nedoroscik made the U.S. Olympic gymnastics team because of his specialization in the pommel horse.

    Monday the 2016 Worcester Tech graduate rewarded that faith with the performance of a lifetime at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

    After waiting through five rotations of Monday's team final — nearly three hours —  Nedoroscik's performance on his specialty event provided the final push to clinch a bronze medal for the United States, giving the team their first medal since 2008.

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=18bapf_0ugwy7br00

    More: Worcester's Stephen Nedoroscik and Team USA gymnastics compete today for first medal since 2008

    Nedoroscik, who qualified in second place to the pommel horse final with a stellar score of 15.200 Saturday, notched a score of 14.866 to push the United States ahead of Great Britain and Ukraine and clinch the bronze medal. Japan took gold, while China claimed silver.

    After a near flawless routine of twists, turns and spins, Nedoroscik leapt off the apparatus on his dismount and seemed to know he did his job well, clinching his first and yelling in celebration once he hit the mat as his teammates ran out to meet him and lift him up, while fans in the crowd — including his parents Cheryl and John — chanted "U-S-A!" throughout Bercy Arena.

    "It was just the greatest moment of my life, I think," Nedoroscik told reporters after the event.

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2YFG20_0ugwy7br00

    With their arms around one another, the men's gymnastics team waited anxiously for Nedoroscik’s score to be announced and for the final competitor, China's Zhang Boheng, to finish his horizontal bar routine.

    Boheng's score gave China the points needed to secure second, while Nedoroscik's score gave the United States enough to hold off Great Britain and Ukraine for a medal of their own and start the celebration.

    Nedoroscik said he knew was going to be stepping into a moment filled with plenty of pressure, but it was something he was happy to embrace. NBC cameras focused on Nedoroscik preparing throughout the event, at one point finding him with his eyes closed as he relaxed on the sidelines - a moment that became a hit on social media .

    "(But) I thought about it before, about how I get to be the last person that goes in the Olympics," Nedoroscik said. "I put that in my head as a positive. Like, I can be the exclamation point."

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1pFLk5_0ugwy7br00

    More: 'That is what he was here to do for Team USA': Worcester's Stephen Nedoroscik shines in Olympic debut

    Three gymnastics from each team perform in six events for the men's team final, competing on the floor, pommel horse, vault, rings and bar. A gymnast can perform in any event as long as all six events get three performances from each team and all scores count. Nedoroscik was only competing in the pommel horse, which was seen as a weakness for the U.S. squad and the reason he was brought on board, as Nedoroscik was the 2021 world champion on that apparatus.

    "Stephen was in the hardest seat of the entire competition, being last up on the last event, knowing that if you hit a routine, you're probably going to medal," said Brett McClure, a silver medalist with the U.S. men in 2004 and now the team’s high-performance director. "And he did it."

    The experience isn't over for Nedoroscik, as the Penn State graduate who got his start at the Sterling Academy of Gymnastics advanced to the pommel horse final after both he and Ireland's Rhys McClenaghan notched matching scores of 15.200 in qualifications last Saturday. McClenaghan posted the higher execution score, earning a mark of 8.900 to Nedoroscik’s 8.800 to earn the top spot. That apparatus' final will be held Saturday at 11:15 a.m.

    This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Worcester's Stephen Nedoroscik's clutch performance helps United States to first gymnastics medal since 2008

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