- September 8, 2024
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On July 29, the American social media scene found its daily main character in the form of U.S. men's gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik.
People loved his bespectacled sideline look, a rarity in all sports but especially gymnastics. They loved that he has been deemed a "pommel horse specialist," only participating in that event during the men's team competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics, when others on the team competed in four or more events. They loved that, as the time of the pommel horse crept closer, Nedoroscik seemingly got more and more relaxed, at one point closing his eyes while resting in a chair.
Obsessed with this guy on the US men's gymnastics team who's only job is pommel horse, so he just sits there until he's activated like a sleeper agent, whips off his glasses like Clark Kent and does a pommel horse routine that helps deliver the team its first medal in 16 years. pic.twitter.com/0D1ZqJjFa1
— Megan 📚 (@MegWritesBooks) July 29, 2024
"In that moment, I'm doing my breathing exercises," Nedoroscik said on the "Today" show July 30. "We always try to keep our heart rate down. In that five minutes I'm sitting there, I'm visualizing my routine over and over again."
But "Pommel Horse Guy," as he came to be known, is more than a meme. When it was finally time for him to perform, it was the last American routine of the competition, and the U.S. needed his best. Anything less, and the team might have found itself off the podium.
Nedoroscik delivered: his pommel horse routine earned a score of 14.866, tied with Japan's Takaaki Sugino for the second-best pommel routine of the day behind Great Britain's Max Whitlock (15.266). The performance helped the U.S. secure a bronze medal, the country's first men's gymnastics team medal since 2008.
It didn't come out of nowhere. Prior to the Olympics, Nedoroscik and teammate Brody Malone spent time training at Sarasota's EVO Gymnastics, where they honed their routines under the guidance of coaches like Sam Mikulak, a three-time Olympian himself.
In gymnastics, points can be deducted for the smallest of mistakes, so every detail of a routine matters. It took months of prep — physical and mental — to get everyone's routines in top shape for Paris. Even then, the initial qualification round didn't go well for everyone; Malone fell twice on the high bar and once on the pommel horse, uncharacteristic mistakes for the former world champion. Gymnastics is hard, and the pressure of perfection only makes it harder, even for the world's best.
Yet when the lights were brightest, Malone and Nedoroscik did what they came to Paris to do.
"I went back to the gym and reset my mind," Malone said on the "Today" show. "I went into that competition confident that I was going to be able to hit for the team."
He was right. Malone gave a rock-solid performance across the pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars and horizontal bar. Watching Malone and Nedoroscik perform was like watching a magic show. I don't know how they do the things they do, and I don't care. I just want to sit and bask in the wonder of it.
The same goes for athletes who prefer flying through the water to flying through the air.
While Malone and Nedoroscik just arrived in Sarasota recently, U.S. swimmer Emma Weyant was born and raised here. She attended Riverview High and swam for the Sarasota Sharks before heading to the University of Florida. Weyant won silver in the Women's 400 individual medley at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and she just signed a deal with Visit Sarasota County to feature her name, image and likeness in the organization's promotional materials. In ways both metaphorical and literal, Weyant is the face of the Sarasota sports scene to a lot of people.
Weyant swam the 400 IM again in Paris on July 29. Her competition was tougher this time. Not only did Weyant have to race U.S. phenom Katie Grimes, the only person at the Olympics to swim in both pool and open water events, but she had to face world-record-holder Summer McIntosh, a Canadian swimmer who has spent time training at Selby Aquatic Center with the Sarasota Sharks.
At first, it appeared that Weyant had made a miscalculation: She started slow, perhaps too slow. At the halfway point of the race, Weyant trailed Great Britain's Freya Constance Colbert for third place by approximately two seconds. Most swimmers would not be able to make up that much ground, even if the back half of the race is their strong suit.
Weyant is not most swimmers.
Although McIntosh would cruise to a gold medal (4:27.71), and Grimes held on for silver (4:33.40), Weyant tracked down Colbert and overtook her for bronze, touching the final wall in 4:34.93. It is just the second time since 1968 that the U.S. had two swimmers on the 400 IM podium.
"I’m pretty confident in my training, especially being with the (University of) Florida distance group," Weyant said in a USA Swimming release after the race. "We know how to train for the last 50. I’m really fortunate for (coach Anthony) Nesty and all the coaches there for giving me confidence for the back half.”
With a few exceptions, Olympic swimmers typically do not have long careers. There is a possibility that the Paris games are Weyant's last. If so, she has made her hometown proud — not only for taking home hardware, but for being a fantastic representative of the city, displaying perseverance during her races and poise afterwards.
Everyone at the Olympics is part of the elite, but it seems like Sarasota's connections are a cut above the rest. We're not done, either: Rower Clark Dean and shooter Mary Tucker still have events to go, and Malone and Nedoroscik have individual gymnastics events to complete, as does McIntosh.
It is our athletes who are capturing the heart of America — and for good reason.
