Stephen Nedoroscik, 'pommel horse guy,' wins bronze in event: Social media reactions
Stephen Nedoroscik has become an unexpected household name during the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Team USA's pommel horse specialist — known now as the "pommel horse guy" — won a bronze medal in the event on Saturday, helping build up his legendary status at the Paris Games. With that, the 25-year-old became just the second American to medal in the event since 1984. He beat out Great Britain's Max Whitlock ― the two-time defending Olympic champion ― for a spot on the podium. Ireland's Rhys McClenaghan won the gold, while Nariman Kurbanov of Kazakhstan took the silver.
ICE IN HIS VEINS 🥶
Stephen Nedoroscik is your Olympic bronze medalist on pommel horse!
📺: @NBCOlympics & @peacock #ParisOlympics
pic.twitter.com/lwDN2EZuR0— Team USA (@TeamUSA) August 3, 2024
"I've just been consistently on top of this world for the last week now," Nedoroscik said in a news conference on Saturday. "I literally had to go and turn off my notifications yesterday because I needed to lock in for this competition."
The 25-year-old electrical engineering major from Penn State also helped U.S. men's gymnastics earn a bronze medal in the team final. Over the Paris Games, he has become a social media meme, garnering attention on social media.
"I'm glad that people are making memes of me," Nedoroscik said. "I think it's so funny. It's almost surreal to finally wind down after a day of workout and go on TikTok and see someone made a meme of me."
Here are social media reactions to Nedoroscik earning a bronze medal on Saturday:
Stephen Nedoroscik pommel horse bronze medal | Social media reactions
me watching stephen nedoroscik without understanding a single thing about pommel horse pic.twitter.com/RVBlMauyBC
— 🫐🪐 ً (@douwanttodance) August 3, 2024
Stephen Nedoroscik finishes his pommel horse routine in the final and the crowd goes WILD! 👏 #ParisOlympics
📺 E! and Peacock pic.twitter.com/JbCPmqNJA7— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 3, 2024
Stephen Nedoroscik 🇺🇸 and Rhys McClenaghan 🇮🇪 the Olympic pommel horse Bronze + Gold Medalists! Best friends forever, showing everyone the power of being a skinny nerd with insane hip flexibility. One of the best Pommel Horse finals ever! pic.twitter.com/Rur5PXOc3X
— 🌲 Tim Gerber 🌈 (@ZurrieSkate) August 3, 2024
how it feels watching Stephen Nedoroscik on the pommel horse pic.twitter.com/T5D2wsy5t3
— chelsea 𝜗𝜚 (@chelssweezy) August 3, 2024
Penn State’s Pommel Horse King gets the Bronze in Paris! pic.twitter.com/efuJ4U2Nj5
— Jake Myers (@CFBJake) August 3, 2024
Congratulations to Rhys McClenaghan on his wonderful Olympic Gold medal in the pommel horse. A richly deserved achievement
— President of Ireland (@PresidentIRL) August 3, 2024
Pommel Horse Guy Stephen Nedoroscik has become so impactful in the span of a week that we can see a photo of glasses and know exactly what’s about to go down. #OlympicGames https://t.co/n8brPlukWy
— Tracy Troutman, MBA (@TracyATroutman) August 3, 2024
USA TODAY's Tom Schad contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Pommel horse guy' Stephen Nedoroscik wins bronze: Social media reactions