Olympic Medalist Stephen Nedoroscik Will Be On Dancing With The Stars

Olympic medalist Stephen Nedoroscik was first going for the gold, but now he is in the running for the mirrorball trophy. 

Stephen Nedoroscik, a 25-year-old pommel horse specialist on the U.S. men’s gymnastics team, is the first celebrity contestant announced for Season 33 of Dancing With The Stars.

The announcement for the upcoming season was made on Thursday, August 22, on Good Morning America. When asked if Stephen Nedoroscik would bring any of his pommel horse moves to the DWTS dance floor, Stephen Nedoroscik told the host of Good Morning America, Robin Roberts, “I’m hoping to bring some of them. I want to bring some flares; I want to bring some of that gymnastics. Maybe a backflip or handstand. I want to have fun with it. He added “I’m very excited,” before revealing that the opportunity was one, he said “yes” to straight away.

Additionally, the full cast of Dancing With The Stars will be revealed later. Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough will reprise their roles as co-hosts for the upcoming season as Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli, and Derek Hough will return as judges. 

Season 33 of DWTS will begin on September 17 at 8 p.m., multicasting of ABC and Disney + with next-day viewing on Hulu, according to Variety.

Stephen Nedoroscik was instrumental in helping the men’s gymnastics team bring home a bronze medal in Paris. It was the first Olympic medal that the men’s team had received in 16 years. 

Stephen Nedoroscik scored 15.300 during the pommel horse event on August 3, 2024. This score surpassed both his team event score of 14.866 as well as his qualification score. He is the first American man to medal in this Olympic event in eight years. 

According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, the definition of pommel horse (noun) is: “a gymnastics apparatus for swinging and balancing feats that consist of a padded rectangular or cylindrical form with two pommels on the top and that is supported in a horizontal position above the floor.”

Stephen Nedoroscik scored just below Nariman Kubanov of Kazakhstan who achieved a score of 15.433. Rhys McClenaghan of Ireland landed the gold with a score of 15.533. In the final rotation of the ream competition on July 29, Stephen Nedoroscik scored high. With a score of 14.866, in his only rotation for the team event put the U.S. men in third place in the final standings. 

Furthermore, Stephen Nedoroscik nicknamed “Mr. Pommel Horse,” and “Pommel Horse Guy,” competes with limited vision, earning him another nickname: “Clark Kent.”

Stephen Nedoroscik shared via TikTok that he has an eye condition called strabismus or crossed eyes. This condition is a misalignment of the eyes that can lead to vision problems, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. He also mentioned that he has coloboma, an eye condition that one is born with in which a part of the tissue that composes the eye is missing, according to the National Eye Institute. 

Stephen Nedoroscik used to wear prescription goggles when he competed, he now competes without goggles or glasses. 

“I don’t think I actually use my eyes on pommel horse,” Stephen Nedoroscik told the Washington Post. “It’s all feeling. I see with my hands.”