Concerns were rising about the poor showing of the US Gymnastics in recent times. After all, they failed to win a single Olympic medal for 16 long years. And while the likes of Simone Biles, Suni Lee, and more upheld the women’s division internationally, the men seemed to be lagging behind significantly. Thankfully, all of that changed as Paris 2024 finally came with some good news. With the likes of Paul Juda, Stephen Nedoroscik, and more putting up a brilliant showing, the men’s gymnastics team finally clinched a bronze medal after a long wait. 

Despite the victory, the likes of Stephen Nedoroscik failed to see the light at the end of the tunnel. With men’s gymnastics being considered a dying sport, several somber updates came along. Firstly, the NCAA rules were revised to allow only 4 athletes to participate per event. This is in stark contrast with how, in old times, there was room for six athletes per event. And as if that was not enough, Ohio State removed the athletic scholarship for the men’s gymnastics discipline last year. Heartbroken by the developments, Nedoroscik expressed his wish for discipline after dedicating one of his performances to his Gymnastics squad of Paris Olympics on the DWTS stage back in October saying, “I wanted to make that a point because the sport itself has been slowly dying… to make sure this sport not only is surviving but thriving,”

Thankfully, after what looked like a never-ending struggle, Nedoroscik might finally have his dream fulfilled. With the NCAA season underway, men’s gymnastics witnessed one of the biggest feats this year. Kameron Nelson of the Bucks performed two triple-backs in a floor routine! This was truly a special moment not only for Nelson but also for men’s gymnastics as well. 

This was because Nelson became the sole gymnast in the entire world to have successfully executed the combination of triple-backs. Taking to their X account, the Ohio State Men’s Gym wrote, “Congratulations to Kameron Nelson on making history as the first gymnast in the WORLD to compete two triple backs in a floor routine. What an incredible accomplishment after all of the work he’s put in!!” 

Now, a little background research on Nelson will reveal that the feat did not come out of the blue. The young gymnast has been a consistent performer in the NCAA realm for the past few years. Back in 2023, Nelson was crowned the champion in vault and floor disciplines at the Winter Cup. In the same year, Nelson clinched the bronze medal for Ohio State in the NCAA floor exercise routine. He was also the US vault champion in 2023, marking the end of a fantastic year. 

Continuing his good work forward, the Ohio State star clinched the honor of being the 2024 Winter Cup vault champion. And now, riling up the entire community, Kameron Nelson is making sure he is keeping the hopes alive for the future of men’s gymnastics. On the flip side, it is not only Stephen Nedoroscik who is concerned about the men’s gymnastics discipline. His Olympic teammate, Paul Juda, too, revealed the dark reality of the same.

Paul Juda reveals the dark truth of men’s gymnastics 

Paul Juda became an overnight star after helping Team USA win the bronze after 16 years. Unfortunately, despite all the glitz and glamor, Juda realized that there was not enough money available in men’s gymnastics. Speaking about the same in an exclusive interview with Inside Gymnastics on December 30, 2024, Juda reflected, “We do such a unique sport. No one really understands it except for gymnasts.” However, in the next minute, he added, “I also was emphasizing to the kids, but mostly the parents, too, during a talk on tour, I said, ‘Listen, I think as gymnasts, we all are super-motivated to be really successful in the classroom because we know there’s not a lot of money in gymnastics. So, we end up pursuing more.”  

To put it into perspective, Juda pointed out that out of his 23 teammates, at least 11 or 12 of them were engineers. This went on to show how gymnasts are actively trying to pursue an alternative career to sustain their cost of living. In fact, competing in his final year for Michigan, Juda has already made his ties with GymnastX as their Chief Revenue Officer. He also hinted at a probable commentary stint as he shared on his Instagram story hours ago about a commentating session on Big Ten+. Thus, amidst the rising concerns for men’s gymnastics, Kameron Nelson is looking like a bright ray of hope. However, it will now be interesting to see how things pan out for him and the men’s gymnastics discipline in the future.