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The 26-year-old entered Day 2 with leading scores (14.450) on the pommel horse. Despite the immense competition of the U.S. Olympic trails, Nedoroscik’s relatively simplistic routines did the trick. However, as the gymnast who would break Team USA’s 16-year medal drought in Paris landed his final dismount, his coach also breathed a sigh of relief.

Stephen Nedoroscik’s coach’s potentially risky strategy worked

While Nedoroscik, his parents, and longtime girlfriend Tess McCraken couldn’t help but feel elated, coach Syque Caesar was relieved their strategy of reducing the difficulty worked. “Stephen’s was a 100% tactical move, that’s all. It was like he didn’t need to win the Olympic medal at the trials. He just needed to make the team at the trials,” said the EVO gymnastics head coach on the Neutral Deductions YouTube channel.

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Instead of making complicated routines with high difficulty, Caesar designed routines with difficulty levels just under 6. And that’s why the coach held his breath until Stephen Nedoroscik’s very last dismount. They wanted to show Nedoroscik’s command of the apparatus. Hence, even the slightest mistake may have cost the gymnast another Olympic appearance. The host put the risks into perspective.

Recalling her reactions while watching the routines, the host recounted how she felt. “Is he just like forgetting his routine or can he like not do the full difficulty?” the host recounted thinking during the trials. Had the judges felt the same, things may have gone wrong. Thankfully, the judges didn’t see it that way, and Nedoroscik made it.

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Did Stephen Nedoroscik's 'less is more' strategy prove critics wrong, or was it just luck?

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“In a way, that wasn’t exactly the way I thought, but he still achieved it… I was like, ‘Okay, check mark. Now we can train for the Olympics,'” confessed Syque Caesar. However, not everyone felt happy that Nedoroscik had made it into the team after performing simplistic routines. Yet Stephen Nedoroscik knew it would take a lot more than a few doubters to stop him.

How Olympian used backlash as his fuel to succeed

Months after breaking Team USA’s medal drought in both the team and individual men’s gymnastics medals, the double bronze medalist explained the reaction he got after making the gymnastics community. “There was like an immediate sort of, like, community hatred that I made the team,” the 26-year-old confessed while appearing on the Mythical Kitchen in November 2024.

However, instead of fighting back verbally, Stephen Nedoroscik joined Syque Caesar in preparing for the Paris Olympics. “I immediately knew like I had something to prove,” the gymnast told Mythical Kitchen host Josh Scherer. However, despite the initial backlash, the gymnast and his coach stuck to the less is more philosophy even during the Olympics.

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In fact, it was that approach that helped the USA earn the team bronze. During the team finals, when it all rested on Nedoroscik’s shoulder, the Pommel Horse Guy stepped up, performing a less difficult routine than the qualification round. Yet once again, the 14.866 was enough to push Team USA to the podium. However, there was another reason besides determination that helped Nedoroscik succeed.

That reason was the gymnast’s calmness in the face of challenges. Looking back at the Tokyo Olympic trials, the two-time Olympic medalist had learned to take it easy. “I take a lot of pressure off myself, where back then I was putting so much pressure on myself,” Nedorosick told the Worcester Telegram & Gazette days ahead of winning not one but two bronze medals. Now Syque Caesar and Stephen Nedoroscik are once again preparing for their next challenge. Although neither of them has divulged when or how they plan to start the 2025 season.

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Did Stephen Nedoroscik's 'less is more' strategy prove critics wrong, or was it just luck?

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