Stephen Nedoroscik, Olympics Pommel Horse Star, to Compete on Dancing With the Stars

The two-time Olympic bronze medalist and Penn State graduate will compete on Season 33 of Dancing With the Stars.

Stephen Nedoroscik of the United States celebrates after winning the bronze medal in the pommel horse on the first day of gymnastics event finals during the 2024 Paris Olympics. / Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Dancing With the Stars revealed the first contestant of its Season 33 that begins in September, and he might drop a "We Are" or two. Stephen Nedoroscik, the two-time Olympic pommel horse bronze medalist, was introduced Thursday as a competitor on the long-running ABC show.

Nedoroscik, the Penn State graduate who became one of Team USA's viral stars at the 2024 Paris Olympics, appeared on Good Morning America to discuss his transition from the pommel horse to the ballroom.

"I want to do some flairs," Nedoroscik told host Robin Roberts. "I want to bring some of that gymnastics, maybe a backflip or a handstand. I want to have fun with it."

Nedoroscik has been on a whirlwind media tour since his performance at the Summer Olympics, where he won a pair of bronze medals with drama and flair. First, Nedoroscik clinched the U.S. men's first team medal in gymnastics since 2008 with his superb routine in the competition's final event. Nedoroscik unique prep (in which he appeared to be sleeping) and Clark Kentesque glasses made him a social media star.

A few days later, Nedoroscik returned for the individual pommel horse competition, in which he won another bronze medal. By scoring a 15.300 in the event, Nedoroscik won Team USA's first individual Olympics pommel horse medal since 2016.

Nedoroscik recently appeared on The Tonight Show, where host Jimmy Fallon told him, "You were my favorite thing I saw in the Olympics," and now he will become the first men's gymnast to compete on Dancing With the Stars. Season 33 premieres at 8 p.m. ET on Sept. 17 on ABC.

From the pommel horse to the dance floor, two-time bronze medalist Stephen Nedoroscik is hitting the ballroom floor on this season of #DWTS! 🕺🏅👏

"I want to bring some of that gymnastics. Maybe a backflip or handstand."@GymnastSteve@officialdwtshttps://t.co/mAGRowlBi4 pic.twitter.com/g1gh9gmWkp

— Good Morning America (@GMA) August 22, 2024

Nedoroscik, 25, graduated from Penn State in 2020 after winning two NCAA titles on the pommel horse. He grew up in Worcester, Mass., and now trains in Sarasota, Florida. According to his Olympics biography, Nedoroscik began climbing things around the house when he was 1, and his parents enrolled him in gymnastics at age 4. " The first day I was there I climbed a 15-foot rope, and within the next few days I was invited to join the team," Nedoroscik said in 2023.

His early success in junior events earned Nedoroscik an offer to join the Penn State men's gymnastics team. He enrolled at Penn State in 2017, when he won the first of two NCAA titles. Nedoroscik was pursuing a third in 2020 when the NCAA gymnastics championships were canceled. That year Nedoroscik became the first specialist to win the Nissen-Emery Award as the nation’s top senior gymnast.

After graduating from Penn State with a degree in engineering, Nedoroscik won four pommel horse titles at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships from 2021-24. In 2021, he became the first U.S. gymnast to win a pommel horse gold medal at the world championships.

Nedoroscik joins another former Penn State athlete in a major network competition show. Cam Sullivan-Brown, a former Nittany Lions football player, is a contestant on CBS' Big Brother Season 26.

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