U.S. gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik inspired a flurry of hilarious memes after clinching a bronze medal as Team USA's resident pommel horse specialist.
Nedoroscik sported his bronze medal and host Hoda Kotb's black sunglasses due to eye sensitivity while sitting next to teammates Brody Malone and Asher Hong during an appearance on TODAY. They discussed their July 29 performance and the circumstances that led to social media users calling Nedoroscik the Clark Kent of gymnastics.
Nedoroscik wasn’t widely known heading into Monday’s men’s gymnastics all-around finals. As Team USA’s pommel horse specialist, he was set to compete in just one event, scheduled for last.
However, during the hours he waited on the sidelines, he began to draw attention. NBC even placed a countdown clock for “Nedoroscik Pommel” in the corner of its video feed. Observers were intrigued by the fact that he appeared to be sleeping at times, with his eyes fully closed.
When asked for his thoughts on the memes he inspired, he laughed and said:
“I think they’re awesome. I’m representing people that wear glasses well.”
He described what he was thinking before his performance and also spoke about what it's like taking his glasses off before getting on the pommel horse:
"I'm doing my breathing exercises. We always try to keep our heart rate down and through that five minutes I'm sitting there, I'm just visualizing my routine over and over ... that's all I'm doing in my head." ...
“It’s not necessarily clear, but the thing about pommel horse is if I keep them on, they’re gonna fly somewhere. 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.”
The gymnast also commented on another viral sensation that social media users have embraced: his passion for solving Rubik's cubes. He mentioned that he solved a cube in just 9.5 seconds on the day of the competition:
"It's a stress relief, sometimes I make the excuse that it's good for wrist rehab too. I love to solve it — it's just fun."
That passion did not go unnoticed by The Fault in Our Stars author John Green, who noted that Nedoroscik had posted an image of himself solving the cube to his Instagram Stories while he waited on the sidelines for his big moment:
"To truly understand Stephen Nedoroscik's nerd credentials, you need to know that he is in Paris for the Olympics and posting to his insta story about solving a rubik's cube in under 10 seconds."
Nedoroscik, who has a degree in electrical engineering, told reporters following his performance that he did his best to channel his nerves, noting that he's "done this a million times at this point, and I just tried my hardest to enjoy every moment of that routine."
He is the sole member of Team USA to qualify for the final of an individual apparatus. He will aim for a gold medal in the pommel horse final, which is scheduled for Saturday.
