The Best a Man Can Get
A tale of Olympic glory
Stephen Nedoroscik came to the Olympics with exactly one job. While his teammates vaulted, tumbled, and swung spectacularly through the air, he closed his eyes and envisioned the single moment that would determine whether they brought home a team medal. He had a very particular set of skills. But they weren’t the skills people typically think of when they picture a gymnastics routine. That was about to change.
The pommel horse is a padded bench with two handlebars. A gymnast grips them while twirling himself over the bench in perpetual motion. He must keep his body perfectly extended the entire time, teeter-tottering from hand to hand with subtle, lightning-quick balance shifts. For at least thirty seconds, he becomes a human top. He can’t relax, he can’t stop, he can’t pause for even a fraction of a second.
Born with a combination of severe vision problems, Stephen has to take his glasses off every time he does the routine. Fortunately, he doesn’t need them. His hands know exactly what to do.
The moment he dismounted, he knew he had been flawless. The whole team hoisted him in the air, screaming themselves hoarse. “I don’t know what’s happening!” he shouted. “Did we do it?”
We had, in fact, done it, by which Stephen meant we had made it to the podium. For other male gymnasts, bronze would have been a failure. Even silver was a failure for China, who apologized to their fans for losing to Japan (a double humiliation). But for Team USA, who hadn’t won a medal since 2008, bronze was as good as gold.
