In week six of Dancing with the Stars, Stephen Nedoroscik is still flying high. In his last performance, the gymnast experienced a few hiccups because he failed to catch the exact pace of his moves. Despite facing physical limitations, the judges still praised Nedoroscik and his dance partner, Rylee Arnold, awarding them enough points to advance to the next round. This steady progress brings him closer to the prestigious Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy. Before joining Dancing with the Stars, Nedoroscik made waves in the gymnastics world, earning two medals at the Paris Olympics. He’s been collecting accomplishments despite the challenges he’s faced.

Yes, the Clark Kent of gymnastics has been dealing with incurable physical limitations. He has irreversible eye issues and problematic asthma. Yet, Nedoroscik is winning peaks. Any extraordinary ability to thwart the barriers? No one knows. But this is not the first time he is living with success in the middle of constraints. Three years ago, he tasted a bit of it. 

Stephen Nedoroscik recalls his memorable accomplishments 

A few days ago, Stephen Nedoroscik shared an Instagram story commemorating his victory at the 2021 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. Notably, in the pommel horse event, he snagged the gold medal after scoring 15.266 in the final. This was the first time for an American gymnast to win the pommel horse title at the WAGC. In his Instagram story, Stephen recognized his entire event as the “most successful and chaotic meet” of his life. But on October 23, the 25-year-old shared another post to celebrate his first global title. This time, he slipped a few insider stories regarding his achievement. Nedoroscik noted in the caption that he was “sickest ever” before attending the meet. How?

In the same caption, the Penn State gymnast stated that he had missed 8 days of training because of a severe illness. Furthermore, it compelled him to join the contest in Fukuoka, Japan, four days after his pre-scheduled date. A late run because of the adversities! But later, the situation went further south for him. According to his lines in the captions, an injury chased him in the tournament: “Rarest wrist stress fracture.” Yet, he decided to carry on with his momentum. In the final, the challenge had been fearsome in the presence of Kaya Kazuma and Weng Hao. But Stephen continued to fight and earned a place in history. In Fukuoka as well, Nedoroscik appeared with his glasses. 

During the events in Fukuoka, Stephen Nedoroscik had to remove his glasses to avoid the glasses falling from his eyes. But he tried not to experience the same thing that he had done in the US Olympic gymnastics trials that year. 

The phenom has to deal with lots of things in the way of meeting success 

During the Paris Olympics, Stephen Nedoroscik became viral because of his demeanor and jaw-dropping performances on the pommel horse. However, the title, Clark Kent of gymnastics, crossed his path after he opened those every time before performing his skills on the apparatus. It made the fans remember Superman, the DC comic character who also removed his glasses before showing his extra-human abilities. He has strabismus (double vision) and coloboma, which makes him sensitive to bright lights. Two incurable diseases! However, in the 2021 Olympic gymnastics trials, one of these shortcomings jeopardized his chance. 

On the first day of trials, Stephen Nedoroscik faced a fall from the apparatus. That fall ultimately harmed his cause, pushing him to the third position in the pommel horse event. As per the selection policy, the topper on the list, Alec Yoder, earned the berth. However, according to Nedoroscik’s description, he failed to see the judges from the mat during his performance. “It was, for same reason, the brightest arena,” he revealed. To be specific, because of coloboma, Stephen Nedoroscik failed to learn the judges’ signals from the stage. But the lessons came as a learning factor for him. Three years later, Stephen managed to deal with the issues and took the top place in the pommel horse event in the trials. Now, his stories stand to be motivational.