"Shoot an email to the athletic director"- Olympic bronze medalist Stephen Nedoroscik calls for more support towards men's gymnastics

By Animesh Pandey

Modified Aug 23, 2024 16:05 GMT

Gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik spoke on how the men's sport could receive more support. The 25-year-old won two medals at the Paris Olympics, to add to his golds in the 2021 World Championships and the 2023 Pan American Games.

Nedoroscik took to Instagram and shared two photographs: one with the entire men's team after winning the bronze medal for the team all-around event and the other from the team all-around event.

In one post, Stephen Nedoroscik wrote:

"If your school has MGYM [Men's Gymnastics] shoot an email to the Athletic Director in support of the sport.

In another post, he wrote:

"If you want MGYM at your school also shoot an email to your athletic director."

Compared to the women's team, the United States did not do that well at the Paris Olympics but it was still a better outing than they had in Tokyo 2020. Of the nine medals won by the USA in gymnasts, the men won just two: a bronze in the team all-around event and a bronze medal in the pommel horse event thanks to Stephen Nedoroscik.

It's been two decades since a male gymnast had last won an Olympic gold medal for the USA in gymnastics. Paul Hamm was the last man to attain this feat in the individual all-around event at the Athens Olympics in 2004.

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Stephen Nedoroscik's performance at the Paris Olympics

Stephen Nedoroscik of the USA celebrates after winning the bronze medal in the Men's Pommel Horse event at Paris Olympics [Image Source: Getty]

Stephen Nedoroscik had a tough task when he entered the Paris Olympics. Team USA had not won a single medal in men's gymnastics at the Tokyo Olympics, and the current American team had to ensure they didn't return empty-handed.

The USA barely managed to qualify for the team all-around event finals, with an overall score of just 253.229. This performance gave them a fifth rank overall. However, in the finals, Asher Hong and Brody Malone did their best to contribute to the USA's overall score of 257.793, enough to secure a historic podium finish.

Nedoroscik participated in only the pommel horse event, but his score of 14.866 was more than enough to give the USA the edge over Great Britain.

Even though the British gymnasts scored more than their American compatriots in the pommel horse segment, the USA won in the horizontal bars event, where the USA managed an overall score of 42.365 while Great Britain managed barely 40.033.

It was the USA's first Olympic medal in this category since Beijing 2008, when they last won a bronze medal. However, Stephen Nedoroscik wasn't done yet. He delivered the first individual Olympic medal for the USA in men's gymnastics since the Rio Olympics in 2016, when he won the bronze medal in the pommel horse event. Alexander Naddour had last won a bronze medal in the same segment at the Rio Olympics in 2016.