Olympic medalist Stephen Nedoroscik has literally not put a foot wrong since the Paris Olympics. Going into Week 2, the electrical engineering graduate had already put his mathematical brain on to iron out all that had a bearing on the score (21/30) from Week 1—be it rushing into a piece or failing to keep his toes pointed. His pro partner Rylee Arnold had already figured out what the next week was going to look like: “intense, bold, and strong.” 

Debuting with Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now where the couple took the third spot, in Episode 2’s Oscars Night theme—which was also a double elimination round—the couple made the switch from happy and upbeat to serious. Just listen to the pommel horse specialist about the change he endured:  “This dance was just so different. I had to be serious, I had to be stiff, I had to put my hips out.”

Making use of the hype around his Clark Kent similarity, the two-time Olympic bronze medalist pulled out a John Williams’ Superman-themed paso doble by The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. Nedoroscik made a class entry to the stage in a true Clark Kent fit with the suit, jacket, and glasses. Smoke filled the air. Seconds later, he reappeared in a sparkly red United States-themed outfit, throwing the glasses aside, much like his week 1 routine, kissing his biceps, and walking out to meet Arnold with a great deal of swank! Now imagine doing all of that while wearing a two-and-a-half-inch heel throughout week-long practice sessions and during the show! 

The duo earned a score of 22 out of 30, as he received two 7s from judges Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli and an 8 from Carrie Ann Inaba, totaling 43 points! But it came with a cost. In a recent appearance on the Lightweight Podcast, Nedoroscik chronicled his first time wearing heels that gave him a world of trouble!

“I don’t know what they are called, but yeah, I wore like the dancing shoes for the first Jive, and then I wore Cuban heels for the second one, and now I’m back in a different type of dancing shoes for this third week,” the Olympian stated in an interview with Lightweights Podcast with Joe Vulpis. “But they’re not heels, which I’m excited about because, man, that like destroyed my calves.

“It doesn’t make it [dance routine] harder but like, especially for guys, we are not used to walking in heels. And it was like long days of me walking in these two-and-half-inch heels, and oh my gosh props out to women who wear heels every day because my shins and calves were killing me.

“I’m getting to the point where it’s like you know the legs and the hips and stuff are all getting to the point where it’s like they don’t hurt anymore. But there are certainly things that are surprising me like the side of my calves and stuff. It’s just like the funniest muscles that you didn’t even know could bother you, like the arches of my feet.”

During the show, he confessed that he isn’t “a leg guy” but despite having a strong upper body, Nedoroscik’s hips and legs are getting adjusted to being a dancer. He has been giving it his all in preparation and embracing the challenge. In fact, his dance partner Arnold said she thought the gymnast should ease up just a little in practice.

On September 15, she appeared on the same podcast and mentioned that Nedoroscik was trying his best to learn the routines during practice but believed that he “is pretty hard on himself.” The professional dancer then had to ask him to ease off a bit. She said, “He’ll point out things and I’m like wait I didn’t know you messed that up, but like good catch. But it’s to the point where it’s just like he’s hard on himself and I’m just like just do it. Just like let it out and dance it and it’ll come when it needs to.”

Stephen Nedoroscik definitely caught the gymnastics world’s attention after his clutch Pommel Horse routine helped Team USA snag an Olympic bronze. But it wasn’t just his skills that had fans buzzing—it was his uncanny resemblance to none other than DC Comics’ very own Clark Kent! With his clean-cut, innocent look and signature glasses, Nedoroscik became an instant fan favorite.

And just like Clark Kent, he’s often spotted meditating quietly on the sidelines, glasses on, looking all calm and collected. Just before his bronze medal win, Nedoroscik was seen meditating while wearing his spectacles. The 25-year-old then went up to perform his Pommel Horse routine and won a medal. This led to many memes around his superpowers and transforming from Clark Kent to Superman.

So he decided to thrill the audience with a Superman-themed performance at the DWTS. In just his second routine, Nedoroscik and Rylee Arnold pulled off a John Williams-inspired paso doble “Superman – Main Theme” The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra that had Nedoroscik rip off his suit reveal his inner Superman. Expectedly, the crowd went berserk, as the judges scored the dance 22/30.

But the problem with the high heels and learning a new dance routine wasn’t his only challenge during week 2.

Nedoroscik mentioned that he tripped several times during rehearsals

Apart from the high heels taking a toll on his calves, Nedoroscik experienced some hilarious moments during the practice for his Week 2 performance. Speaking with Joe Vulpis, Nedoroscik he recalled, “So, I start walking down, and Riley’s like, “Go, go!” She’s telling me to walk, and I was like, ‘Oh, she’s told me to stop.’ Then I was like, ‘Okay, wait, no, she’s saying go.’ So, then I kind of hit a little jog to the stairs, tripped down the stairs, It was so funny.”

“I trip down the stairs because I have my Cuban heels on and I get back up like ‘alright lock back in dude.’ They rip the suit off it gets stuck on my leg and I go to walk and I trip again,” he further narrated.

He may be a champion gymnast, but even he had a few nerves about the shirt-rip act on Dancing with the Stars. His job? Rip off the top half of the shirt, while his dance crew handled the lower part and tossed it aside with perfect timing. Sounds simple, right? Well, Nedoroscik wasn’t so sure everything would go off without a hitch. Luckily, it all went off seamlessly, and the routine got rave reviews.

Now, as he continues his DWTS journey, it’s clear that Nedoroscik is having a blast. But once the show wraps up, the Clark Kent of gymnastics will swap his dance shoes for that metaphorical cape once again, returning to the gym to save Team USA from any blunders—living up to his Superman-like persona!