On pommel horse, Stephen Nedoroscik wins his second bronze of Paris Games

PARIS — Stephen Nedoroscik came to the Olympic Games for a single apparatus: one routine, repeated three times over the span of a week. That 40-second rhythmic sequence of swinging, flying and floating around the pommel horse was all it took to become an internet sensation, the American hero of the men’s gymnastics team final and a two-time Olympic medalist. The Rubik’s Cube-solving, bespectacled 25-year-old endeared himself to fans with his quirky charm as he landed on the podium thanks to his pommel horse poise. On Saturday, Nedoroscik hit his set for the third consecutive time, scoring a 15.300 to win the bronze in the apparatus final. Nedoroscik narrowly edged Britain’s Max Whitlock, the two-time defending Olympic champion, to earn a spot on the podium behind gold medalist Rhys McClenaghan (Ireland) and silver medalist Nariman Kurbanov (Kazakhstan). In the competitive field of finalists, six athletes posted marks within a range of six-tenths, and McClenaghan called it “the best pommel horse final that’s ever happened, in my eyes, ever.” For Nedoroscik, the podium finish capped a whirlwind week. Entering the apparatus final, Nedoroscik muted the notifications that had been flooding his phone and embraced what he described as monotony. “I need them.”) In his free time, Nedoroscik solved a Rubik’s Cube “a couple hundred times,” including on the morning of this competition. Before the team final, Nedoroscik shared a photo with a solved Rubik’s Cub and a quick time. Later that night, the NBC broadcast showed a countdown to Nedoroscik’s high-stakes performance, the final routine of the day. He called the memes “hilarious” and “surreal.” And he was particularly excited that John Green, the author of “The Fault in Our Stars,” tweeted about him. Advertisement “I’ve just been consistently on top of this world for the past week now,” Nedoroscik said. Ahead of Saturday’s pommel horse final, Nedoroscik posted another photo of a Rubik’s Cube with a solve time of 9.707. 2.” He used to be spooked by fast times, worrying, “Oh, my gosh, this is going to be end up being the best thing I do today.” But the sub-10 second solve before the team final led to optimism when he notched another quick time before his final performance here. “You’re on a really good pace, really good solve, you feel the anxiety,” Nedoroscik said, talking about speedcubing, but he could just as easily be describing a pommel horse performance. In a weird way, it kind of helps you stay in the zone as you’re doing it.” Advertisement play Play now NaN min Follow on Podcast episode Spotify Apple Google Amazon Nedoroscik sees himself as a problem-solver. He loves the apparatus because it’s “super freeing when you’re swinging really well,” he said. “I had no idea how gymnastics works back then,” Nedoroscik said. He didn’t know much about NCAA gymnastics and landed at Penn State, where Coach Randy Jepson “took a risk taking me in,” Nedoroscik said. – This Summarize was created by Neural News AI (V1). Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2024/08/03/stephen-nedoroscik-pommel-horse-bronze-medal-paris-olympics/