Men’s gymnastics sensation Stephen Nedoroscik has veteran Olympian Simone Biles by his side to show him the ropes — or in his case, the memes.
Nedoroscik, a bronze medalist, revealed in an interview with Teen Vogue that Simone Biles recently paid him a visit in the Olympic Village to show him a meme of himself. He described the moment with “the GOAT” as “surreal,” saying, “I don’t think she really even knew what my name was a month ago.”
The gymnast, 25, has been dubbed “Pommel Horse Guy” for his position as a specialist on Team USA. Beyond his medal-earning skills in the event, Nedoroscik has appealed to Americans everywhere with his unbothered, nerdy persona.
Nedoroscik has displayed a number of meme-worthy behaviors on camera during the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, most notably his Rubik’s cube side quest.
“I probably solved it about 100 times, maybe even more than that,” he said. “It’s a way for me to kill time and is also a stress reliever as well.”
Taking to Instagram to share his personal record (under 10 seconds), the gymnast’s pre-competition ritual became one of his most viral moments.
Author John Green chimed in on Twitter, writing in the caption:
“To truly understand Stephen Nedoroscik’s nerd credentials, you need to know that he is in Paris for the Olympics and posting to his insta story about solving a rubik’s cube in under 10 seconds.”
Again Nedoroscik was caught in a “meme-able” moment resting his eyes on the sidelines while his teammates competed in Paris. Fans compared him to Clark Kent, removing his glasses and becoming Superman on the pommel horse.
Despite all of his newfound fame, Nedoroscik managed to stay focused on competing, earning two bronze medals at the Paris Games including the team all-around and pommel horse.
“I surprised myself with how I managed it. I totally thought that the pressure was going to be so much more intense,” said Nedoroscik. “But somehow when I went up to that pommel horse [on Saturday], I literally just enjoyed the moment and performed.”
After the Paris Games, Nedoroscik is looking forward to heading home and taking some time off from training.
“I’ve been so locked into gymnastics for probably five months now,” he shared. “It’s like I now have all this time to just breathe, heal up and relax — and kind of appreciate the year that I’ve had in this sport.”
