By Karen Packard
The City of Light is certainly bright tonight! Mark and I were lucky enough to attend the Paris Olympics and watch the US Men’s Gymnastics team final with the 5 incredible athletes including Sterling Gym alum Stephen Nedoroscik who represented Team USA on the Pommel horse.
As most people know, Men’s Artistic Gymnastics has 6 apparatus, the floor routine, pommel horse, still rings, vault, parallel bars and the horizontal bars. Many Olympic sports including gymnastics were practiced by the ancient Romans and Greeks. Pommel horse was actually an ancient event introduced by the Romans. It was used to teach soldiers various ways to mount and dismount a horse. Many of these competitions were lost over the years but modern gymnastics competitions have been around since the mid 1800’s and was included as one of the original Modern Olympic sports in 1896. Stephen Nedoroscik is a pommel horse specialist. It was the only event that he competed in for the US team. The pommel horse is known to be one of the hardest pieces of apparatus. A gymnast needs to demonstrate smooth continuous circular and pendulum swings, double leg circles and scissor movements. It is common for the gymnast to travel up and down the length of the pommel horse moving their hands at quick speeds to keep the momentum. The hands are the only body part that should touch the horse. All this and there is no stopping or pausing during the event. In the pommel horse, the movement must be continuous. This is the only gymnastics event where you cannot pause even if you get in trouble.
Bob Donahue and his wife Liz Gonzalez were Stephen’s coaches at Sterling Gymnastics from the time he was six years old until the time he left for college at Penn State. According to Bob, “Stephen was like many young boys we train for competitive gymnastics, he was very energetic, talented and competitive.” He went on to say “Stephen started to experience some chronic back pain when he was finishing up his sophomore year in high school. Pommel horse was already a strong event for him so he started to concentrate on it, spending much less time on the events that hurt his back like rings, floor and vault. This was where his path to specializing on the pommel horse began.”
Stephen’s mother, Cheryl Nedoroscik said “The Olympics was a dream for Stephen since he was a little kid.” Stephen is living his dream this year and what a dream it is!
You could feel the excitement in the room as the gymnasts entered the arena and begin their warm ups. This was the moment they have been waiting for. The years of training and preparation had all led to this. Just a few hours of the most exciting and nerve-wracking competition that they will ever have the privilege to compete in.
The crowd was captivated by all the amazing routines. Oohs and ahhs could be heard all over the stadium throughout the competition. Everyone cheering for great routines regardless of which nationality was on the apparatus. And groans of sorrow and disappointment for the athletes who did not achieve their best were almost as loud. Coaches and spectators were cheering and yelling for all the athletes. I can’t say enough how amazing it was to be a part of this event. Seeing all these young men performing at such a high level on such a big stage was a once in a lifetime experience. I was in awe of the athletes and their accomplishments. Mark and I happened to sit with a large group of US spectators. Some of Fred Richard and Paul Juda’s teammates from the University of Michigan and their families were in attendance sitting right next to us. So, we were a rowdy group with cheers and lots of happy, proud tears at the end of the competition.
Unlike the qualifying round on Saturday night when the Pommel horse and Stephen were the first event, the team finals landed the US on the Pommel horse as the last event with Stephen the final athlete of the night to compete his routine. In an exhilarating display of athleticism, the US Men’s Gymnastic team showcased their skills amongst the best of the best from across the world. Stephen was cheering on his teammates all night but as it got closer to his turn, you could see him start to focus. His coaches and teammates nearby but giving him the space he needed to prepare. He sat alone with his jacket on and from where we were sitting looked like he closed his eyes for a few minutes trying to block out the competition around him to focus on what was to come.
Stephen preformed his series of intricate and physical skills showing his agility, strength and balance to perfection in his routine lasting only about 45 seconds. From the moment he mounted the pommel you could see the focus and aggressiveness to complete his routine. The agility and physical strength needed is incredible! The timing, rhythm and body control was mesmerizing and the crowd loved it! As soon as he landed his dismount, he threw his arms up in sheer excitement and his teammates rushed to hug and lift him up. The US men were shortly declared bronze medal winners within a few minutes of Stephens final score of 14.866 being announced. This is the first Men’s gymnastics team medal since 2008 and they earned it!
Stephen’s family along with the coaches that trained him in Sterling, Liz and Bob were also in the stands getting ready to witness his Olympic debut! Bob Donahue, Stephens previous coach said “There is a surreal aspect to Stephen’s level of success of course – the OLYMPICS! However, Liz (Bob’s wife and fellow coach of Stephen’s at Sterling Gym) and I are not shocked, Stephen has been on this trajectory for close to a decade.”
I asked Stephen’s mother, Cheryl Nedoroscik how they were feeling leading up to Monday’s team finals. She said “Her emotions were best described as razor blades slicing through your whole body with little room to breathe.” After the event I asked her how they felt once the competition was over and she said, “We were riding cloud nine, it’s hard to describe the joyous feelings adequately how emotionally high we were.” As a mother, I can only imagine the feelings of watching your child live out his or her dreams and winning a bronze medal in the process.
The Olympics in Paris was an amazing experience for Mark and I. We enjoyed watching many sporting events and taking part in all the city had to offer. I have a newfound love and respect for many athletes and sports that I haven’t seen live before. I will admit, I did not develop a love of fencing even after our fencing experience… I think that one just might not be for me… but our most memorable and awe-inspiring moments were watching the US Men win the bronze medal in the team finals that Monday night. I wish all the athletes especially the US Men and specifically Stephen Nedoroscik a successful future in Gymnastics and hope to see him in the 2028 Summer Olympics competing in his home country when the Olympics come to Los Angeles!