2024 Olympics: Who is Pommel Horse Gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik? Meet the Viral Star!
Turns out everyone’s favorite new Superman has already found his Lois Lane.
While the world was recently captivated by gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik—the bespectacled pommel horse specialist for the U.S. men’s team at the 2024 Olympics—his girlfriend Tess McCracken has been stanning him and his Clark Kent glasses for the better part of eight years.
“History = Made,” McCracken wrote on Instagram after witnessing her longtime love do his thing in Paris, clinching the bronze for his teammates Brody Malone, Frederick Richard, Asher Hong and Paul Juda.. “The most insane, magical day watching you close it out to bring home the first team medal for USA in sixteen years. Words can’t capture how proud I am of you.”
Because the retired gymnast has been on hand for Nedoroscik’s heroics from the beginning, the athletes meeting ahead of their freshman year at Penn State.
“Four years ago I had my entire collegiate experience ahead of me,” he wrote following their 2020 graduation, marking their Fourth of July anniversary. “Little did I know I had already found my favorite part about college.”
Together, the pair stuck the landing throughout their college careers.
Texas-born McCracken—a specialist on balance beam, uneven bars and floor who trained with Simone Biles‘ coaches Cecile Canqueteau-Landi and Laurent Landi—was named a nominee for the AAI Award, given to the nation’s most outstanding senior.
Tess McCracken/Instagram
And though the 26-year-old abruptly retired from the sport her senior year amid the coronavirus outbreak—”Gymnastics, I’ll miss you, but this is just goodbye for now, not goodbye forever. I’ll be back to play someday soon,” she wrote in a March 14, 2020 Facebook post—she’s continued to suit up for her man.
Celebrating his spot on the 2024 Olympic squad, Nedoroscik—the 2021 World Champion and a two-time NCAA National Champion in the pommel horse event—praised his “beautiful cheerleader” McCracken.
“I couldn’t have done it without you,” the Worcester, Mass. native wrote on Instagram July 1. “I love you.”
Of course, he wouldn’t have to, Florida-based McCracken joining the 25-year-old in Paris where he slipped off his specs and steadily nailed his signature event.
Weeks earlier, she recognized their July 4 anniversary, noting in true Swiftie fashion that she’s loved him for eight summers “now, honey, but I want ‘em all. Happy Anniversary, my love. What an amazing adventure we’re having.”
Of course, they’re not the only pair celebrating. We dare you not to let your eyes well up reading about all the historic moments that have taken place in Paris so far.
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Léon Marchand
Marchand Mania was at an all-time high during the men’s 200m breaststroke final, when the French swimmer set an Olympic record of 2:05.85. The impressive time snagged Marchand his third gold medal at the Paris Games.
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Jessica Fox
By winning a gold medal in K1, the canoeist became the first Australian athlete to win four consecutive Olympic medals in the same event—having taken home bronze at Tokyo 2020 and at Rio de Janeiro 2016, as well as silver in London 2012.
Her C1 gold medal victory three days later made her the most-decorated Olympic slalom paddler in the world.
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Pan Zhanle
The Chinese swimmer set a new world record in men’s 100m freestyle with a gold medal-worthy time of 46.40 seconds, a full four tenths from his previous record.
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Katie Ledecky
With an Olympic record-breaking time of 15:30.02 in the women’s 1500m freestyle, the American swimmer won her 12th medal—her eighth gold—and matched the record for most Olympic medals won by a U.S. woman.
She now also owns the 20 fastest women’s 1500m freestyle times in history.
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Cassandre Beaugrand
After braving the Seine, as well as streets of Paris on bike and foot, the Olympian claimed France’s first gold medal in triathlon with a time of 1:54:55.
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Adriana Ruano Oliva
Once an aspiring Olympic gymnast, the sports shooter notched Guatemala’s first-ever gold medal when she scored 45 points in the women’s trap event.
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Gabriel Medina
The Brazilian surfer set a new Olympic record—and went viral with this photo—when he came out of a huge barrel wave with a 9.90, the highest single-wave score in the sport since surfing made its debut at 2020 Tokyo Games.
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Jose Torres Gil
With his golden win in the men’s park final, this BMX rider from Argentina rode his way into the history books by scoring the country’s first individual medal in the sport of cycling.
In addition, his medal was Argentina’s first in the 2024 Paris Olympics and the nation’s first gold in any sport since 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.
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Simone Biles
She really is the GOAT! Biles became the most decorated U.S. Olympic gymnast in history after winning her eighth medal—her fifth gold—at the women’s gymnastics team all-around final.
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Italy Women’s Gymnastics Team
But Biles wasn’t the only gymnast who made history at the women’s all-around final: Angela Andreoli, Alice D’Amato, Manila Esposito, Elisa Iorio, Giorgia Villa nabbed Team Italy its first medal in the event since 1928 with their silver win.
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Brazil Women’s Gymnastics Team
Rebeca Andrade, Jade Barbosa, Lorrane Oliveira, Flavia Saraiva and Julia Soares also made history on the podium, winning a bronze for Team Brazil’s first-ever medal in women’s gymnastics team all-around.
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Manu Bhaker
Just three days into the Paris Games, the sharpshooter entered the history books as the first Indian athlete to win multiple medals in a single edition of the Olympics since the nation gained independence in 1947.
She notched a bronze in the women’s 10m air pistol—making her the first female shooter from India to win a medal at any Olympics—before landing another bronze alongside teammate Sarabjot Singh in the 10m air rifle, the country’s first-ever shooting team medal.
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U.S. Women’s Rugby Team
With eight seconds left on the clock, Alex Sedrick caught a pass and scored as time ran out, leading to a conversion that resulted in a 14-12 game against Australia.
The dramatic victory gave the Women’s Eagles a bronze, Team USA’s first-ever Olympic medal in the rugby.
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David Popovici
The Olympian made history as the first Romanian man to win a gold medal for swimming when he took home the top prize in the 200m freestyle event.
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Ryan Murphy
Just call it an American victory story! In scoring a bronze on July 29, the Team USA swimmer became the first man to win a 100m backstroke medal in three consecutive Olympics since 1972.
The prize was the latest addition to his already-impressive medal collection, which includes a bronze from Tokyo 2020 and a gold from the Rio de Janeiro Games 2016 for the same event.
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Mollie O’Callaghan
The Australian swimmer set an Olympic record with a time of 1:53.27 in women’s 200m freestyle, beating out defending champ and teammate Ariarne Titmus for the gold.
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Hillary Heron
No other gymnast except Simone Biles has ever performed a double layout with a half-twist—a difficult move aptly dubbed “Biles I”—at the Olympics until Heron came along.
The Panamanian athlete successfully landed it while competing against the stunt’s namesake during the gymnastics qualifier.
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Christa Deguchi
Team Canada scored its first gold medal in judo thanks to Deguchi, who defeated Republic of Korea’s Huh Mimi in a heated July 29 match.
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Gretchen Walsh
In her first-ever Summer Games, the American swimmer broke the Olympic record in the 100m butterfly semifinal with a time of 55.38 seconds.
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South Sudan Men’s Basketball Team
South Sudan—the youngest country in the world—made its Olympics debut on July 28, with their men’s basketball team playing against Puerto Rico.
The South Sudan Bright Stars won their first-ever Olympic game with a final score of 90-79.
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Nino Salukvadze
The sharpshooter made Olympic history as the world’s first and only athlete to compete in 10 consecutive Summer Games when she pulled the trigger at the women’s 10m air pistol qualifers on July 27.
The three-time medalist made her Olympic debut back at 1988 Seoul.
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Ahmad Abu Al-Soud
For the first time in Olympic history, Jordan was represented in men’s gymnastic when Abu Al-Soud competed on the pommel horse. He finished with a score of 12.466 during the qualification round.
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Lais Najjar
Syria also saw its first male gymnast compete in the Olympics during the Paris Summer Games, with Najjar raising the bar in the all-around event.
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U.S. Men’s Gymnastics Team
Stephen Nedoroscik, Frederick Richard, Brody Malone, Paul Juda and Asher Hong won Team USA’s first medal in men’s gymnastics in 16 years, earning a bronze.
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Giannis Antetokounmpo
The basketball player made history as the first Black flagbearer for Greece during the Opening Ceremony.
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Quincy Wilson
The track and field star, who turned 16 in January, “etched his name” in history, according to Team USA, when he became the youngest male athlete to make 4x400m relay squad.
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Hezly Rivera
As for the youngest athlete in any sport to make Team USA? That’ll be Rivera, who turned 16 just weeks before she was selected to join the women’s gymnastics team.
