Stephen Nedoroscik was the stealth Olympic hero we needed.
The American gymnast aced his pommel horse routine on July 29, leading to the U.S. men's team winning its first Olympic medal — bronze! — in 16 years. But the way he prepared and then executed threw off some Clark Kent vibes.
The 25-year-old from Worcester, Mass., is a pommel horse specialist. Nedoroscik does only that routine, and it was the last one — and many say the trickiest — of the competition. So he sat on the sidelines for two hours before his moment.
Here’s the Superman part: Nedoroscik was first shown during his pre-performance ritual of waiting in the wings with his head back, eyes closed and glasses on. When it was time for him to pommel — and pommel he did! — he removed his black-rimmed glasses and swooped in to execute a truly incredible 38-second routine, scoring 14.866. While he celebrated with his teammates, he was handed his glasses and put them back on.
It was like Clark Kent standing up from his desk at the Daily Planet, removing his glasses to initiate his transformation into a superhero, saving the whole world and then casually sitting back down in his chair.
NBC, which is broadcasting the Olympics, dubbed Nedoroscik “the Clark Kent of pommel horse!” on social media. The internet was on fire over Nedoroscik’s covert excellence, making him one of the most memed athletes in the Olympics so far.
Nedoroscik — the 2021 world pommel horse champion, who has been specializing in that apparatus for eight years — responded to the masses in an X post with 1.8M views and counting.
Here's what we know about Nedoroscik's vision: He has a disease that leaves his eyes permanently dilated, according to the Athletic. In the past, he competed while wearing goggles — given to him as a joke from his teammate at Penn State, where he attended college — but he retired the look.
According to the Olympics website, he said in June there was "no reason" behind the change, "I just haven't really felt like it. He's been going without glasses altogether for "a while," noting: "Nothing's really intentional." Besides, he can see the horse without eyewear.
"It's not necessarily clear, but the thing about pommel horse is if I keep them on, they're gonna fly somewhere," he said during an appearance on the Today show on July 30. "When I go up on the pommel horse, it's all about feeling the equipment. I don't even really see when I'm doing my gymnastics. It's all in the hands — I can feel everything."
During that same interview, alongside teammates Brody Malone and Asher Hong, he swapped eyewear with Hoda Kotb, donning her sunglasses while she wore his Clark Kent-style frames.
He also spoke about his pre-performance ritual, explaining that he was doing “breathing exercises.” It’s important to keep his heart rate down, he explained, and in the five minutes before he performed, “I'm sitting there, I'm just visualizing my routine over and over. ... That's all I'm doing in my head."
He noted that he’s delighted by the memes, calling them “awesome. I’m representing people that wear glasses well.”
Nedoroscik previously reacted to his clutch performance, telling NBC on Monday night , "I just knew I had to go up there and do my job. I was like, 'Let's just get it done; let's go for it."
He said nailing his dismount was “the best moment of my life.”
The next time the members of the men's gymnastics team compete is July 31 at 11:30 a.m. ET.
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