Paris Olympics: Stephen Nedoroscik — the gymnast in the glasses — takes bronze in pommel horse

PARIS — Stephen Nedoroscik, the glasses-wearing, Rubik’s cube-solving, overnight sensation after clinching the United States' first medal in the team event here proved he was no one-hit wonder.

On Saturday he won a medal all of his own, a bronze in the individual pommel horse to cap a whirlwind week in Paris.

Ireland's Rhys McClenaghan took gold with a 15.533 followed by Kazakhstan's Nariman Kurbanov at 15.433 for silver.

Nedoroscik recorded a 15.300, earning a 6.4 for difficulty and 8.9 for execution. It was better than the 15.200 he put up in qualifying.

As his score flashed across the Bercy Arena video board, Nedoroscik, back wearing his trademark rims, hugged McClenaghan and the two spoke about competing again at the 2028 Olympics in LA. “Run it back,” Nedoroscik said with a smile.

Nedoroscik shot to instant fame in an otherwise obscure sport when he served as the closer for the Americans to win bronze in the team event for the first time since 2008. Nedoroscik is a pommel specialist and it was the final rotation of the team competition. Cameras caught him in a possible nap during the event and then his glasses became iconic.

All of the attention has even pleased his competitors, who have known him as a lovable, if quirky, character for years.

“Love the amount of kudos he is getting,” McClenaghan, the gold medalist said. “I absolutely love that everyone is finding out about Stephen Nedoroscik.”

Nedoroscik suffers from an eye condition that leaves his pupils permanently dilated. It requires him to wear glasses and prohibits him from driving a car as of now. The 25-year-old from Massachusetts, who graduated from Penn State with a degree in electrical engineering while also earning All American honors, eschews sports goggles.

Instead he takes the glasses off just before competition.

“I don't think I use my eyes on pommel horse; it's all feeling,” he explained this week. “I see with my hands.”

Nedoroscik said he spent Saturday mentally preparing for the late afternoon competition by sitting in his room in the Olympic Athlete Village meditating, listening to music and solving hundreds of rubik’s cubes, a passion of his.

“Rubik's cube is my way of filling the time,” he said. “Recently solving a Rubik's cube in under 10 seconds has been a good omen for me. In the past I would be like, ‘Oh my gosh, this will be the best thing I do today so it kind of freaked me out.

“But after I solved it in under 10 seconds before the team finals, solving it in under 10 seconds today, I was like, ‘OK, we’ve got this.’”

He certainly had it.

Nedoroscik said he has had so much fun at these Olympics — and becoming an unlikely breakout star — that he decided not to even worry how the pommel final played out.

He made sure to ignore everyone else’s score so he wouldn’t know what he needed to medal. And he chose a routine that he felt confident in, rather than a higher degree of difficulty that might put him higher on the podium, but also might backfire.

On top of the world already, he was playing with house money.

“Let’s just go out to pommel horse finals and have fun,” Nedoroscik said. “Let's just go out and do the routine I’ve hit and enjoy the moment.”

The pommel is a unique skill in men’s gymnastics. Where other events favor acrobatics or pure athleticism, the pommel is more about meticulous, technical training. It often appeals to academics or engineers, such as Nedoroscik, who, with two bronze medals, will leave Paris as one of America’s most popular Olympians.

Not bad for a pommel specialist.