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Louise Thomas
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During the 2024 Paris Olympics there were a number of viral moments, including the Norwegian swimmer earning the nickname “The Muffin Man” for his obsession with the Olympic village’s chocolate muffins and Simone Biles’ Instagram post appearing to reference her former teammate, MyKayla Skinner.
Another incident that spread far and wide online was Stephen Nedoroscik, who competed for Team USA in men’s gymnastics, as clips were seen of him napping, playing charades, solving Rubik’s cubes, and cheering on his teammates until it was time to mount the pommel horse where he earned a nearly perfect score and earned the internet nickname “pommel horse guy.”
The 25-year-old two-time bronze medalist recently appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where he specifically addressed the images of him sitting with his eyes closed and whether or not he was actually sleeping ahead of his event.
Nedoroscik told the talk show host that because he was last to compete in the men’s team final he had to wait “around five hours to compete and represent.”
“We get there earlier and then warm up and then march out and compete,” he explained. “So, finally, when it got to [pommel] horse, I needed to calm down. So all I’m doing there is I’m tilting my head back and doing my breathing exercises and visualizing a lot – like 100 times.”
The gymnast’s high score in the event led to his team earning bronze medals in men’s gymnastics for the first time in 16 years. “It was just the greatest moment of my life, I think,” Nedoroscik told reporters after his performance. “[I’m] so happy to have been there.”
He went on to compete again in the individual pommel horse finals where he also earned a bronze medal, coming in behind Ireland’s Rhys McClenaghan and Kazakhstan’s Nariman Kurbanov.
This isn’t the first time Nedoroscik has spoken out about his virality, whether that be for his comparison to Superman’s alter-ego Clark Kent or appearing to be sleeping ahead of competing.
In an interview with GQ published earlier this month, he revealed that he had no idea that so many people were talking about him online until his girlfriend filled him in.
“Funny enough, it took three hours after that competition for me to even check my phone, because right afterwards, of course, with how drug testing works out here, I got chosen,” he told the outlet.
“So I didn’t really see anything for three hours until I finally got to go and sit down for dinner with my family. And I only got about 15 minutes with them, and my girlfriend goes, ‘Dude, have you looked at your phone?’ And I’m like, ‘What are you talking about?’ She’s like, ‘You’re trending on Twitter.’ And I was like, ‘You’re joking me.’ It’s insane.”
Nedoroscik also opened up about why he thinks people are able to relate to both him and his story online.
“I think that it’s being someone you don’t expect to be able to do something cool, I guess. Honestly, I’m very authentic about being a nerd. I totally am. I love math. I’m an electrical engineer. I like to think that I’m just a regular dude who happens to be really good at pommel horse,” he admitted.
“And it’s cool that people were able to see me be who I am and then also go out there and get the job done for Team USA.”
