PARIS, FRANCE – AUGUST 03: Stephen Nedoroscik of Team United States celebrates after finishing his routine during the Artistic Gymnastics Men’s Pommel Horse Final on day eight of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on August 03, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
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Olympic medalist Stephen Nedoroscik is back. After missing the 2025 World Championship team, ‘The Pommel Horse Guy’ shone in this week’s U.S. Championship qualifier, dominating on his signature event.
Nedoroscik tallied a 14.300 on pommel horse at the 2026 Men’s National Qualifier in Colorado Springs on Saturday, edging out the second-place finisher by a sizable five-tenths.
Though the difficulty level was well below Nedoroscik’s Olympic medal-winning efforts, he was nearly flawless, earning a 9.200 execution score from the judging panel. Even at lower difficulty, his score would have placed sixth at the 2025 World Championships.
Impressively, the result comes just under a month after Nedoroscik incurred labrum damage in his right shoulder. Though he was able to avoid surgery, he only resumed training full routines one week prior to Saturday’s competition.
With the score, Nedoroscik punched his ticket to the 2026 U.S. Championships in Phoenix, Ariz. The 27-year-old will vie for a national team spot and his third World Championship team this August in Arizona.
Paris Olympic Stardom, 2025 Disappointment
2024 was Stephen Nedoroscik’s year. The then-25-year-old helped Team USA to its first Olympic team medal in men’s gymnastics since 2008, and added the nation’s first individual medal since 2016.
Dubbed the ‘Pommel Horse Guy’ by international fans, Nedoroscik’s bronze medal-winning team final routine rendered the gymnast an overnight celebrity.
Nedoroscik secured appearances on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and the “Today Show,” and a finale finish on “Dancing With the Stars,” becoming the first male gymnast to appear as a contestant on the show.
In 2025, the pace changed. The former World Champion and two-time Olympic medalist returned to the elite gymnastics stage last August, looking to begin another four-year journey toward a second Olympic Games.
“I’ve always told myself, ‘I want to be done with the sport when my body is done with the sport,’ and I’m still getting better,” Nedoroscik said in 2025. “I feel like I’d be doing myself a dishonor to not see how far I could go.”
However, Nedoroscik struggled at the 2025 U.S. Championships, finishing fifth on his one and only event. As a result, Nedoroscik failed to make the 2025 World Championship team and missed the opportunity to secure a second World title.
Despite the disappointment, Nedoroscik remained unfazed and focused on the ultimate goal: LA 2028. “I’m going to continue going,” he told USA Gymnastics. “L.A. [2028 Olympics] would be amazing, so I want to shoot for that.”
For now, Nedoroscik focuses on a date with the Grand Canyon State.
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