The 2025 Pan American Championships is a crucial event for athletes on American soil that is to be held in Panama City from June 12 to 15, 2025. The USA had recently announced this, and wait, what’s that? Yes, Team USA is heading into the Pan Americans without the Pommel Horse Guy. While this news shocks the gymnastics fans, Nedoroscik has himself dropped his answers. What are they?

A story went over on Sam Merritt’s Instagram where the Paris Olympic bronze medalist could be seen doing a pommel routine. And not just any routine, this was the very same one that ended the drought of Olympic medals in men’s gymnastics for the Team. This bronze medal was the first team medal for U.S. men’s gymnastics since 2008. And now? Well, he donned a gray bottom and a white vest, swinging like he did in Paris. Recreating what he did in the French capital, the Olympian takes hold of the pommels and jumps atop the apparatus – the only thing missing here was him removing his glasses and being Superman.

The very next moment, he hopped on, his hands taking a firm grip on the pommel, and he went around in circles. His legs floated above the pommels, defying gravity. The man twisted and landed back perfectly on the mat. Nedoroscik mentioned this back on his Instagram story. Perhaps giving out the message that he still has it. He might have gone away to have the time of his life in DWTS, playing around a little chess, but he is still at the top of his game.

Accompanying Merritt’s story, there was another mention back on the account of the Olympian. This time, from the account of Jeremy Cohen, a freelance photographer. Here, the gymnast had his legs in a bucket, his arms taking the support of only the saddle, doing a 360. “the bucket @stephen_nedoroscik,” read the text on the story.

Now, if you saw this flawless routine, you can understand why the fans were shocked when they saw his name missing from the Team USA lineup for the Pan American Artistic Gymnastics Championships. The official roster that was shared on May 3 over at Reddit included: Taylor Burkhart, Brandon Dang, Josh Karnes, Taylor Christopulos, and Asher Hong, with Jun Iwai listed as the traveling alternate. Out of all the names, only Asher Hong was part of the Paris Olympics team, while the rest were fresh faces.

Additionally, the 26-year-old was absent from the 2024 lineup as well. His reason? Well, he said he wanted to focus on the Paris Olympics. This then makes his 2023 appearance the last appearance for this particular championship. He competed alongside Donnell Whittenburg, Shane Wiskus, Curran Phillips, and Cameron Bock. And as fate and a lot of hard work would have it, he went to clinch a team while individually qualifying for the pommel horse final and finishing fifth.

And while he may not have made the team this time around, he sure managed to do something better. He shared a video of his first day back in the gym since the Paris Olympics, writing, “Wasn’t gonna post for the first day back because it was underwhelming and kinda buns. BUT SECOND DAY BACK WAS INSANE 🔥.”

While that’s that, his Paris run needs to be noted. Nedoroscik had created quite the buzz last year when he outperformed many in the Paris Olympics. Man was the talk of the hour, honored with new nicknames, new titles, and whatnot. And that makes you wonder how he did at the grandest stage of all.

Stephen Nedoroscik in the Paris Olympics

At the Paris 2024 Olympic Arena, all eyes were locked on the pommel horse. The stakes were sky high as the Team USA — chasing redemption, legacy, and a medal — stood on the brink. Their last hope? An electrical engineer from Massachusetts. He mounted the pommel horse, launching into flawless circles and razor-sharp flairs. When his routine ended, silence turned to eruption. The score came in, and it was enough for bronze. Stephen Nedoroscik had done it.

Scoring 14.866, the Olympian gave a crucial contribution to the team’s total score of 257.793. This made sure that every one of them had a bronze medal slid down their neck –  a feat that came to American men’s gymnastics after 16 years. The U.S. men’s gymnastics team last secured an Olympic team medal in 2008, earning bronze at the Beijing Games. That team comprised Alexander Artemev, Raj Bhavsar, Joseph Hagerty, Jonathan Horton, Justin Spring, and Kevin Tan. It was Artemev who clutched on the Pommel horse then, and it was Nedoroscik this time.

But he wasn’t just done yet. How could he be? The individual pommel horse event had its competitors waiting. Days after winning the hearts of millions of his countrymen, the Superman of gymnastics did it again. It wasn’t easy. Kazakhstan’s Nariman Kurbanov, competing first, scored 15.433, higher than the top qualifying score. But it did not break the spirit of the electrical engineer. Nedoroscik stepped up to the pommel horse and scored a 15.300, enough to take third and his second bronze of these games.

And that’s impressive, right?