Penn State’s Stephen Nedoroscik clinches USA’s first men’s gymnastics team medal since 2008
It’s going to be a bronze medal for Team USA in the men’s team gymnastics all around in a thrilling competition that came down to the final rotation. There, Penn State‘s Stephen Nedoroscik was able to clinch the podium for the Americans.
For Team USA, this was men’s gymnastics first team medal at the Olympics since the 2008 games.
You can watch Stephen Nedoroscik clinch the bronze medal for Team USA, here:
Nedoroscik is considered a pommel horse specialist and it’s the only event he competed in during the all around. It was also the last routine on the last rotation of the day for the Americans, meaning he had to sit in anticipation of the event for hours.
In the end, Nedoroscik scored a massive 14.866 in the final routine of the day for Team USA. At that point, the celebration was on with teammates hugging one another and waiting for it to go official that they’d be standing on the podium.
Every part of Team USA played a role in the medal, with Brody Malone and Paul Juda both also scoring strong pommel horse scores and had big performances throughout the competition. Team USA is rounded out by Asher Hong and Fred Richard, who are athletes at Stanford and Michigan respectively. They both starred in their respective events, including a massive high bar routine from Richard.
Stephen Nedoroscik is a Massachusetts native and has been competing in gymnastics since 2003. He went on to compete at Penn State where he became known as an expert at the pommel horse. His inclusion on the team was, at one point, controversial, because he’s such a specialist in the pommel horse and wouldn’t be competing in anything but that one event.
The last time the United States won a medal in the men’s team all around was in 2008. That was also a bronze medal for the American team. Since then, it’s been three straight fifth-place finishes.
There was drama at the top of the podium late as China entered the final rotation with a solid lead. That’s before the Chinese fell twice on the high bar and Japan was able to surge past them late for the gold medal. China would settle for silver.
Only Brody Malone returned in 2024 from the 2020 team, which came up short in Tokyo, making it a special moment for him. He competed in all events except the floor routine.
Stephen Nedoroscik may have only competed in the pommel horse, but that may have been the highest pressure moment in the entire competition for the Americans. He had time to think about it and had to find a way to stay warm and focused throughout the competition.