Stephen Nedoroscik has been making waves ever since his Pommel Horse exploits propelled Team USA to an Olympic medal in gymnastics after 16 long years. Appearing on the reality show, Dancing with the Stars, the “Clark Kent” of the gymnastics team has continued to win fans over, with not only his ballroom routines but also with his heartwarming gestures. Nedoroscik keeps putting his best foot forward each time he steps out to perform, with his “Superman” performance leaving fans stunned.

When Nedoroscik decided to pass on Simone Biles’s Gold Over America Tour, fans were left wondering. But soon, his update came about featuring in the latest season of Dancing With The Stars. Pairing up with Rylee Arnold, Nedoroscik put up quite a show in the first few episodes. After making the crowd gasp in amazement in his debut performance to Queen’s ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’, the gymnast decided to raise the stakes further. ‘The Pommel Horse Guy’ mastered a Superman-themed Paso doble in his next performance, but it wasn’t without hiccups.

Recalling the build-up to his Superman-themed performance, the spectacled 25-year-old, who shot to popularity due to his resemblance with DC Comics’ Clark Kent opened up about the fails he had during the rehearsal. During the Olympian’s routine, Nedoroscik had a spot where he had to rip off his shirt in typical Superman fashion. But it was not as easy as it seems.

Nedoroscik revealed the challenges he had to face on the Lightweights Podcast with Joe Vulpis. The gymnast mentioned, “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.” Despite the mishaps before taking to the floor, the gymnast scored a 22/30 for his John Williams’ Superman-themed inspired paso doble by The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.

After the performance,  his dancing partner Arnold also mentioned that the routine was a complete shift from the dance form, “Jive,” they had carried out last week. Nedoroscik mentioned how the outfit for the performance also gave him jitters.

For the Superman-themed performance, Nedoroscik recreated the viral meme during his Olympics run. During the games in Paris, he was seen meditating with his glasses on and being relaxed before he came to the mat and grabbed a bronze medal. For his dance routine, he showed up in a suit before ripping it off and sporting a red-sleeved dress.

Talking about the problems practicing rip-off sequence he said, “With the tearaway suit and everything they’re uncontrollables that like you can’t help but stress a little bit about. So I’m grabbing like the upper half and ripping it off and it all came off in one piece not two pieces so like I have to rip the top they have to rip the legs and then one of them pulls it to the side.”

Although Nedoroscik came out of the tripping incidents unscathed, there is some troubling news for him as his dance partner revealed she suffered an injury ahead of their next performance. In a Snapchat video, Arnold said, “Hi friends, so I just got done with PT and I have a sprained ankle. But it is going to be fine. I’m going to do everything that I can these next couple of weeks to just be really careful and to be sure that it doesn’t happen again or get worse.” The duo’s song for the Tuesday, October 8, episode has yet to be revealed and  fans and Nedoroscik will hope Arnold is fit enough to take the floor on that night.

Meanwhile, the gymnast continues to gain more popularity among fans. During his week one performance, he was dressed in a short-sleeved black-and-white striped shirt and black pants and there is a heartwarming story behind his outfit. Taking to Instagram on On September 22, Arnold revealed, “Steve’s original jive shirt was a little long, so we had to cut the sleeve because I wanted it to be short-sleeve. So, Steve asked the costume people to let him keep what they cut off for who?”

The Olympian answered, “For my grandma! She’s a big fan of the show. It was kind of her dream that I was on it,” well all the more reason to compare him to Clark Kent if his looks weren’t enough.

Gymnastics or DWTS? Nedoroscik gives his honest take

There is always a fear factor of being judged by the audience for messing up on a dance number. And there are definitely a lot of fluttering butterflies in the stomach while representing one’s country at the Olympics. But guess what? Stephen Nedoroscik has experienced the best of both worlds. 

Having garnered significant exposure and praise for both his gymnastics and dancing prowess, the Olympian recently weighed in on his preference. Citing gymnastics to be more nerve-wracking, Nedoroscik stated, “Amazingly, they are quite similar. It’s obviously a little more nerve-wracking when you have people relying on you to get a team medal.”

Surely, after an off day at the office from Brody Malone, the hopes laid in Nedoroscik to deliver a killer Pommel Horse routine. He notched up 14.866 to ensure that Team USA men’s gymnastics’ 16-year curse has finally come to an end. Speaking about his dancing, Nedoroscik came up honest as he stated that he was unsure of his skills in the area.

Unsure about the audience’s reaction, Nedoroscik mentioned that was heavily nervous coming into the DWTS. But once he is done with his dancing adventure, the Clark Kent look-alike will go back to doing what he does best. Swinging away to glory on his beloved Pommel Horse.