Hi, hello, welcome to the unofficial but *very* real Stephen Nedoroscik fan club. The U.S. gymnast is the latest athlete to have a viral moment online—aside from Jason Kelce’s link-up with the Team USA women’s rugby team and everything having to do with Simone Biles, ofc—after he bodied his Pommel horse routine on Monday, July 29. (P.S. If you missed it happen IRL, don't worry! You can catch Stephen competing again at the men's Pommel horse finals on Saturday, August 3 at 11:16 am EST.)
On top of taking home the first bronze medal for the U.S. men’s gymnastics team in 16 years (!!!), the athlete recently made the rounds online thanks to an instantly iconic pic of him chilling in his glasses before hitting his routine earlier this week:
Of course, the internet’s mutual obsession with him doesn’t hurt either. While some fans have likened him to Superman/Clark Kent, others have picked up on his Rubik’s Cube skills (he can solve it in less than 10 seconds, nbd) and made memes about his energy going from “0 to 100” before and after his routine.
Of course, Stephen has seen all the love online and jokingly accepted that he represents the glasses-wearing community (it’s me, hi 👋🤓). “I think they’re awesome,” he told Today hosts Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie of the memes. “I’m representing people that wear glasses well.”
As for what was going through his mind during ^^^ that viral moment, Stephen revealed that he was simply doing his breathing exercises. “We always try to keep our heart rate down and through that five minutes I’m sitting there, I’m just visualizing my routine over and over—that’s all I’m doing in my head,” he dished.
For what it’s worth, the official Instagram account for NBC and the Olympics is also showing love for “secret weapon” Stephen:
Honestly... we're right there with them!
