The Worcester’s Stephen Nedoroscik waited his whole life to see one routine. The pommel horse expert nailed it

American expert on pommel horses Stephen Nedoroscik helped deliver the U.S. men’s gymnastics team’s first Olympic medal since 2008.

Sam Mikulak pulled Stephen Nedoroscik close and tasked the American pommel horse specialist with the impossible.

The U.S. men’s gymnastics team’s debut Olympic medal in 16 years was a single routine away, Mikulak informed the pommel horse specialist there was no need to do anything extravagant. A score of 80% was adequate, despite the fact that Mikulak knew that Nedoroscik doesn’t do anything in his life — from sports to solving the Rubik’s Cube — with 80percent.

“You need to be clever with your self,” said Mikulak, an three-time Olympian who became a coach. “You’ve got to be sure you don’t let the sounds get in the head of your brain.”

This isn’t an issue for the 25-year old from Worcester, Massachusetts. It requires a certain level of focus to make the decisions Nedoroscik has made in the last decade, as he has committed himself to only one thing by focusing his attention on an event that’s been a weak point in the U.S. the men’s national program.

There is a certain monotony. Why wouldn’t there be?

“I am not sure what I can do to prevent losing the mind of my opponent,” Nedoroscik said before the Games. “But every single day, I go to the gym and there’s always something to improve on. There’s always something I can improve on.”

It’s over.

Proving the point

He worked on his set in qualifying on Saturday, which earned him an appearance in the event’s finals later on during the Games. However, on Monday night it was a different story. The team of Frederick Richard, Brody Malone, Paul Juda and Asher Hong have put together 17 consecutive routines without missing a beat and put the Americans in a position to make it to the podium in the very first time since the year 2008 at Beijing.

Although Nedoroscik did have some room, his U.S. had a fairly solid lead after Juda and Malone started their sets, and Nedoroscik greeted the judgesHe also did not want to just hold to. He was looking to prove something.

Not only to himself, but also to all those who wondered whether he really deserved to be there at all.

Then came 45 seconds of pure beauty, with the hands of Nedoroscik going from one end on the horse’s back to next with his legs swinging across the field, then this.

Just a few feet away, his four teammates as well as the large number in U.S. fans inside Bercy Arena cheered as the medal, which seemed far away for a team which had placed just a few points lower in its previous three appearances in the rings. However, it got closer.

As he neared his exit, he knew his work was done. The celebration started before his feet touched the mat.

All these years of reps, both mental and physical and all those moments when he was unsure of whether he should keep going and all the quirks that which he’s cultivated along the way -from the non-prescription eyeglasses that he occasionally wears to the kiss from the chef to the camera shots he often does — lead up to the moment.

He was not a make a mistake, hitting “the punctuation” with 14.866. 14.866 to conclude an effort that which the U.S. men’s team hopes will provide a significant boost heading into the 2028 Olympics to be held in Los Angeles.

“I was at the time was thinking”All right, let’s just run it back, and then we can get out there and do what we want”” Nedoroscik told the press.

The need to fill a gap

It’s a “thing” which has for years been a source of contention in Americans. U.S. in major international contests. In 2012, the Olympic team was the top in the qualifying. They then took the lead on the pommel horse during the finals, and watched their hopes of winning medals vanish one error at a time.

Nedoroscik knew the story. One of the reasons that he was drawn to pommels. Another reason is that it takes a lot of things such as endurance, strength and imagination most notably — which he has plenty of and especially that last.

He calls himself an “late bloomer” in the course of the event. These early struggles only let him push ahead.

“Running into trouble with the apparatus at first taught me to stand up, to remain on top of things, and how to follow through with the practice,” he said. “And I believe that this remains with me all the time.”

Contrary to other events that are meticulously laid out and practiced for months, if not years the pommel horse lets gymnasts to go beyond the lines and create things out of their own accord as they move along. Are you missing something here? Maybe you could come up with something different later on in the routine.

The end result is a sensation of “flying across the sky,” though it’s more similar to the feeling of the illusion of levitation.

More work needs to be done

Nedoroscik will fly into the finals of the event on Saturday and have the chance to add another medal on his carry-on before heading home. The 15.200 qualifying score was tied with the Irish’s Rhys McClenaghan for the tops of the eight finalist.

He’s prepared to go to the extent it can take him. Whatever happens on Saturday, or for the remainder of his life it will be hard to beat Monday night when the man who had curly hair and glasses that made him a sort of social media celebrity that only the Olympics offers shattered a resounding hit to the sport, his teammates and for himself. (Scroll down to see more reactions on social media to Nedoroscik’s performances.)

“I’m very happy for these athletes,” he said while watching the team who has become U.S. men’s gymnastics royalty. “I am so proud of you guys.”

Social media outpouring

Nedoroscik’s Olympic preparation and performance sparked an instant social media buzz. Here are a few reactions on the web: