To take a cue from Master Yoda, destined for greatness, Stephen Nedoroscik always has been. The Penn State gymnast might have missed his chance to show the world what he’s made of in Japan, yet he remained firm in his goal of making his mark. And now, with the 25-year-old on his way to Paris for the upcoming Olympics, his journey on the path to redemption will begin shortly. But his coaches never lost their faith.

In the recently released Netflix documentary SPRINT, the reigning men’s 100m world champion Noah Lyles highlighted the importance of having “main character energy” to become successful. From what his mentors have to say about young Nedoroscik, he too seems to have honed the mindset from an early age.

Stephen Nedoroscik has always been vivacious

An article by Spectrum News 1 from July 3 captures the emotions that Stephen’s former coaches Bob Donahue and Liz Gonzalez are going through as one of their very own awaits his Olympic debut. With that, they also can’t help but reminisce how the first-ever American pommel horse world champion was during his days at Sterling Gym. “He was a lot to deal with, but he was a good kid, you know?” said Gonzalez about his former student.

Donahue went a step further and revealed how the youngling was always a handful even when he was just a kid. “Six years old and bouncing off the walls. A little bit nuts,” joked the veteran coach who helped Stephen find his inkling toward gymnastics stardom early in his life. While the two coaches have since handed over Stephen’s training responsibilities to others, they never stopped cheering for their star student.

Earlier today, Nedoroscik shared a post by the official USA Gymnastics account on X to highlight how his current and former coaches were all ecstatic by his triumphant score on the pommel horse on the second day of the Olympic Trials. “A moment I’ll never forget. My past and present coaches there to celebrate with me. It’s all still so surreal to me,” wrote the gymnast in his post as he underscored his excitement to compete in Paris. But it hasn’t been an easy ride.

A turbulent path, now in the past

Missing out on the Paris Olympics was a major reality check for the Penn State star. It was that inability to make the team that thrust him back to the ground and showed him that he needed to up his game significantly if he wanted to realize his dreams for real. “It definitely served as some motivation,” Stephen said in an interview a couple of days ago. With that, he also noted how that experience helped him to change his strategies.

“I’ve tried to have a very different mindset going into competitions nowadays. I take a lot of pressure off myself where back then I was putting so much pressure on myself,” elaborated Nedoroscik about the difference in his mentality since 2021. Now, as he looks to make his debut on the grand stage alongside some of the country’s best gymnasts, including Brody Malone and Simone Biles, fans can’t wait to see if his newfound confidence will give him the edge that’s been missing from his performances for so long.