'Pommel Horse Guy' Stephen Nedoroscik's childhood nickname revealed after Team USA star makes Olympic history

Stephen Nedoroscik was fixed a number of nicknames connected his agelong and dizzying travel to Olympic occurrence successful Paris this summer.

The 25-year-old sealed a first Olympic badge successful 16 years for nan US men's gymnastics squad pinch his pommel equine regular during Monday's final.

Nedoroscik has now go an net sensation, pinch fans branding him 'pommel equine guy' and moreover likening nan glasses-wearing gymnast to Clark Kent.

But he was known arsenic 'spider monkey' during his youth, erstwhile he would 'shimmy up nan walls and scare babysitters.'

'On my first time (at school), I climbed a statement each nan measurement to nan top. After that they invited maine to subordinate nan gymnastics team. We accepted it and that was it,' Nedoroscik precocious revealed.

Two decades on, his nerveless show connected nan pommel equine helped Nedoroscik triumph bronze alongside teammates Frederick Richard, Brody Malone, Paul Juda and Asher Hong.

Nedoroscik suffers from strabismus, a information much typically known arsenic crossed eyes. It can lead to double imagination but nan gymnast was not wearing glasses erstwhile he scored 14.866 connected nan pommel equine connected Monday.

Nedoroscik told nan Today programme he is ‘representing group that deterioration glasses well’, revealing that though his imagination is ‘not needfully clear… nan point astir pommel equine is if I support [my glasses] on, they’re gonna alert somewhere.

‘When I spell up connected nan pommel horse, it’s each astir emotion nan equipment. I don’t moreover really spot erstwhile I’m doing my gymnastics. It’s each successful nan hands – I tin consciousness everything,’ he explained. 

He won 2 nationalist championships while studying electrical engineering astatine Penn State but ‘messed up’ qualification for nan Toyko Olympics.

He will spell for pommel equine golden successful nan individual arena connected Saturday. Before Monday’s squad final, meanwhile, Nedoroscik solved a Rubik’s cube successful 9.3 seconds – conscionable awkward of his individual best. He is besides a instrumentality of Killer Sudoku and reportedly spent astir 50 hours solving 1 puzzle.

He had already go nan first American gymnast successful history to make nan Olympic squad arsenic a master successful a azygous event.

It was astir a decade agone that nan Massachusetts autochthonal decided to dedicate himself to nan pommel horse, an arena that has agelong been a weakness for nan US men's nationalist squad program.

'I don´t cognize really I don't suffer my mind,' Nedoroscik admitted earlier nan Games. 'But each time I spell into nan gym and there´s still thing to do. There´s still thing to improve.'

He has changeable to superstardom pursuing his capacity successful Paris and Nedoroscik's woman Tess McCracken posted throwback pictures alongside nan gymnast pursuing his bronze medal.

The mates celebrated their eight-year anniversary, pinch McCracken sharing snaps from each twelvemonth making love backmost to 2016. 

Fans connected societal media joked that she was marking her territory, letting nan world cognize that Nedoroscik is taken.