By Her View From Home 
If you hadn’t heard of Stephen Nedoroscik before this summer’s Olympic Games kicked off on Friday, you definitely have by now. The nerdy (his words) engineer from Massachusetts has taken the internet by storm for his pivotal role at the men’s gymnastics team final in helping Team USA clinch the bronze, their first medal since 2008.
Nedoroscik competed in just one event—the pommel horse. He waited patiently as the suspense built, cheering on his teammates as they took turns competing in the other events. Social media quickly caught on to the unusual strategy, as evidenced in various TikTok videos and memes highlighting “the pommel horse specialist.”
@nataliebodesports The fact this dude for usa gymnastics only does the pommel horse is absolutely great #olympics #gymnastics #usagymnastics
When it was finally his turn to perform, Nedoroscik absolutely nailed it! The internet immediately blew up.
As memes of him in his signature thick glasses began to circulate, Nedoroscik quickly earned the nickname “Clark Kent.” The gymnast suffers from strabismus, or crossed eyes, but it clearly didn’t affect his performance—in fact, he discarded his glasses right before his event, completing his transformation into gymnast Superman.
“When I go up on the pommel horse, it’s all about feeling the equipment,” he explained to Today’s Hoda Kotb. “I don’t even really see when I’m doing my gymnastics. It’s all in the hands. I can feel everything.”
Obsessed with this guy on the US men's gymnastics team who's only job is pommel horse, so he just sits there until he's activated like a sleeper agent, whips off his glasses like Clark Kent and does a pommel horse routine that helps deliver the team its first medal in 16 years. pic.twitter.com/0D1ZqJjFa1
— Megan 📚 (@MegWritesBooks) July 29, 2024
A self-proclaimed “nerd,” Nedoroscik can also solve a Rubik’s cube in record time. Before his performance, the gymnast posted a photo of his Instagram Stories of himself completing a Rubik’s cube in under 10 seconds.
The more amazing stories that continue to surface about our unlikely hero, the more we love him. A TikTok video revealed the reason why he tugs his ear when he’s on TV—it’s a signal that originated with his late grandfather, “Dziadek” (Polish for “grandfather”), a WWII vet who passed away last year and for whom the gymnast was named.
Nedoroscik has continued using the signal in competition and shared that now, “It means ‘Hey’ to everyone that I love.”
@todayshow U.S. men’s gymnast #StephenNedoroscik tugs his ear when he’s on TV as a “hey” for everyone he loves❤️ #ParisOlympics #TODAYShow Tune into the Paris Olympics on @NBC and @Peacock!
We’re sending an enthusiastic “Hey!” right back to the Clark Kent of pommel horse, who has captured the hearts of the entire nation.
by Aliette Silva 
by Leslie Means 
