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Stephen Nedoroscik Wins Bronze in Pommel Horse at Paris Olympics

The Penn State graduate and social media star becomes Team USA's first Olympic pommel horse medalist since 2016.

Mark Wogenrich

Stephen Nedoroscik reacts after he performs on the pommel horse during the men’s team final at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Stephen Nedoroscik reacts after he performs on the pommel horse during the men’s team final at the 2024 Paris Olympics. / James Lang-USA TODAY Sports

Stephen Nedrosocik, the pommel horse specialist who helped Team USA to a bronze medal in men's team gymnastics, won the individual bronze medal in the event Saturday at the Paris Olympics. Competing in his first Olympics, Nedoroscik scored 15.300 in the event to make the podium with gold medalist Rhys McClenaghan of Ireland (15.533) and Nariman Kurbanov of Kazakhstan (15.433). Nedoroscik won Team USA's first individual Olympic medal in the pommel horse since 2016.

Nedoroscik, a 2020 Penn State graduate and two-time NCAA pommel horse champion, won two bronze medals at the Paris Olympics. During the men's team competition earlier this week, Nedoroscik performed the last discipline in the American circuit, scoring a 14.866 to secure the first U.S. team medal in men's team gymnastics since 2008.

With that performance, Nedoroscik became "Pommel Horse Guy," a nickname made him a household name. He returned in Saturday's individual session to complete a whirlwind first appearance at the Olympics.

Nedoroscik, 25, 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.

Nedoroscik enrolled at Penn State in 2017, when he won the first of two NCAA pommel horse titles. He 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.

Penn State on SI is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, tracking three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and a catalog of great stories. Follow him on X (or Twitter) @MarkWogenrich.

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Mark Wogenrich
MARK WOGENRICH

Mark Wogenrich is Editor and Publisher of AllPennState, the site for Penn State news on SI's FanNation Network. He has covered Penn State sports for more than two decades across three coaching staffs and three Rose Bowls.

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