Stephen Nedoroscik — Team USA’s pommel horse hero at the 2024 Paris Olympics — is revealing what he was actually doing during the viral video of the athlete waiting for his turn during the men’s all-around final on July 29.
In an interview on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on Aug. 14, the 25-year-old gymnast revealed that when he had his eyes closed in the lead up to his turn on the pommel horse aparatus, he was “doing my breathing exercises” and “visualizing a lot.”
“I was waiting around five hours to compete and represent [at the all-around final],” he explained. “We get there earlier and then warm up and then march out and compete. So finally when it got to horse, I needed to calm down.”
Nedoroscik said that would visualize himself “spinning, twirling, and flipping” on the horse in order to help him “get in the zone” before competing.
Stephen Nedoroscik.
Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty
“Usually you have a draw at a competition of what event you’re starting on, and we got really lucky for day one [because] our draw was pommel horse was first,” he continued. “So it’s a great example because I literally got to warm up last in the back gym and then immediately competed.”
He added of the qualifying round, “So that meant that that competition in total was about an hour long for me versus ending on pommel horse, where we warm it up and then you go out and compete it, and it’s about a five-hour day instead.”
Stephen Nedoroscik.
Eric W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated via Getty
Nedoroscik earned a 14.866 score during the men’s all-around final, which helped propel him and his fellow gymnasts Paul Juda, Fred Richard, Brody Malone and Asher Hong to the bronze — the first U.S. men’s gymnastics team medal in 16 years.
Nedoroscik told reporters and PEOPLE at the time that “it was just the greatest moment of my life” and that he was “so happy to have been there.”
While he mentioned that it was a “really long day” leading up to pommel horse, he “framed that in my head as a positive, like I can be the exclamation point,” to the end of the final for the men’s team.
Stephen Nedoroscik (left) and Jimmy Fallon.
Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty
After the men’s all-around final, fans online pegged Nedoroscik as the “Clark Kent of pommel horse,” inspired by his glasses and the way he would take them off while competing.
Nedoroscik also ended up winning the bronze again in the men’s individual final for pommel horse on Aug. 3 and scored 15.300, behind Irish gymnast Rhys McClenaghan who took gold and Nariman Kurbanov of Kazakhstan, who took the silver medal.
