WASHINGTON — Stephen Nedoroscik, Team USA's pommel horse specialist, delivered an epic medal-winning performance in the event finals Saturday.
Nedoroscik earned a bronze medal on Saturday, placing behind Ireland's Rhys McClenaghan and Nariman Kurbanov of Kazakhstan.
He was sensational again under the roof of the Bercy Arena, flying over handles and traveling at ease from one side of the pommel horse to the other.
The American gymnast celebrated by sporting an USA flag in a cape-like manner — fueling the superhero comparisons on social media.
Nedoroscik helped the U.S. men earn bronze in the team final earlier this week, sealing the program’s first Olympic medal in 16 years with a lights-out routine that made him a viral sensation.
He was the only gymnast from the men's team to qualify for an apparatus final. The pommel horse has long been a weakness for the U.S. men's national team program.
Nedoroscik was facing two-time world champion McClenaghan, who won Ireland's first medal in Olympics gymnastics.
With his pommel horse routine, Nedoroscik scored 15.300 points, which earned him the bronze medal.
In 2021, Nedoroscik became the first U.S. gymnast to win a world championship gold medal on pommel horse.
Nedoroscik did not wear his glasses during Saturday's routine on the pommel horse, but the two-time NCAA champion from Penn State is known for wearing his "sport goggles" during competitions.
The sports goggles aren't actually to improve his eyesight as he uses them for comfort and superstitious reasons, according to his Olympic profile.
“They’re more for show than anything,” the 25-year-old from Worcester, Massachusetts said. “They don’t have prescription in them."
The goggles did not make an Olympic debut in Paris.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
