Biles Is Golden, Carey Claims Bronze and Stephen 'Pommel Horse Guy' Nedoroscik Does it Again

PARIS — The stifling expectations of Tokyo were delayed but not denied as Simone Biles secured gold and Jade Carey took bronze in an historic vault final at Bercy Arena on Saturday. And the unlikely legend of pommel horse specialist Stephen Nedoroscik, the Clark Kent of the 21st Century, grew with the second U.S. medal in the event in 40 years.

Biles and Carey became the first-ever pair of American women to make the vault podium in a single Olympic Games. Biles scored a 15.300 to finish ahead of Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade, the Tokyo gold medalist, who took the silver with a score of 14.966. Carey’s 14.466 placed her in third.

Biles’ historic run in Paris continued with the vault title, which made her three-for-three in gold medals. The 27-year-old remains the only American woman to win a gold medal on vault, a feat she first achieved at the Olympic Games Rio 2016. She is just the second woman in Olympic history to own two Olympic vault tiles, joining Vera Caslavska of then-Czechoslovakia in 1964 and 1968.

Biles’ total of seven gold medals is tied for the second-most in Olympic history with Caslavska, two behind Larisa Latynina of the Soviet Union. Her total of 10 Olympic medals ties for third among female gymnasts with Agnes Keleti of Hungary and Polina Astakhova of the Soviet Union. The three trail Latynina’s total of 18 and Caslavska’s 11.

Biles’ signature Yurchenko double pike, one of two vaults named after her, was the biggest factor in her dominant win. The vault’s 6.400 difficulty value is eight-tenths ahead of the next highest difficulty score, which belongs to Andrade. Paired with her high execution, Biles’ score of 15.700 on her first vault was six-tenths ahead of the next highest score by a competitor on a single vault.

For her second vault, Biles performed the same consistent Cheng, posting a score of 14.900. The gold comes three years after Biles faced intense criticism for withdrawing from several events in Tokyo, including the vault final, after qualifying in the top spot.

“Obviously, there were negative comments,” said Biles. “They're painful after a certain point and they hurt. I'm still in therapy working on all that stuff to just make sure my mental health is well. But the critics are really quiet now. So that's strange.”

Biles was not the only one to achieve redemption after Tokyo. Carey’s podium finish was one many expected back in 2021. The 24-year-old put up the second-highest score in qualifying three years ago and was considered to have a strong chance at a gold medal after Biles withdrew. But after tripping down the runway on her first vault, Carey was knocked out of medal contention and finished at the bottom of the leaderboard.

Saturday, however, became a different story. Carey qualified in third after a performance that was arguably not her best. The reigning gold medalist was coming off of a mistake on floor that left her out of the final.

As the final gymnast to go, Carey performed a strong Cheng as her first vault, putting up a 14.733 to score higher than in qualifying. She followed that up with a double twisting Yurchenko to match her qualifying score with a 14.200. Carey celebrated with Biles immediately after the vault, both beaming as they embraced on the floor.

“This medal means everything to me,” said Carey. “I’ve been anticipating this day for a very long time. One of my biggest motivators was to get back here and be in the vault final and prove myself. To walk away with a medal is really special for me.”

As Biles and Carey exited the gym with medals around their necks, another member of Team USA took to the floor to pursue a medal of his own.

Nedoroscik, who helped the U.S. men secure their first team medal since 2008, was a highly-anticipated competitor in the men’s pommel horse final. The 25-year-old has been a fan-favorite since the team final, often compared to Clark Kent online as he removes his glasses right before he steps up to deliver one of the best pommel horse routines in the world.

“The amount of people reaching out, following me, making memes of me is just unbelievable,” said Nedoroscik of the attention. “I’ve just been consistently on top of the world for the past week now. I literally had to go and turn off my notifications yesterday because I had to be able to lock into this competition.”

After tying the top score in qualifying, the expectations were high for Nedoroscik to produce America’s first Olympic medal in the event since Alex Naddour won bronze in 2016, and the second since 1984 when Bart Conner shared gold with Li Ning of China and Tim Daggett won bronze.

Despite being in the second group of competitors, Nedoroscik avoided looking at the scores of his opponents, choosing to focus on his routine. Unaware of the number he would need to put himself in medal contention, he executed another strong, consistent routine just like the two he had already performed in Paris. Coach Sam Mikulak and teammate Brody Malone sprung up and down as Nedoroscik saluted and grabbed his glasses from their signature location on the rim of the chalk bucket. When his score of 15.300 flashed on the board, Nedoroscik realized he sat in third with three gymnasts left to go. He would have to play the waiting game to see if his score could hold.

“It’s definitely not the best scenario to be in,” said Nedoroscik. “It was a little bit of a nail biter. I was pretty confident that my score was probably good enough to hold… but you never know.”

Once the eighth competitor had finished, it was official that Nedoroscik would be taking home the bronze medal with a score of 15.300. He joined the gold medalist, Rhys McClenaghan of Ireland, in the middle for the floor with the American flag draped around his neck like a cape. In celebration, he whipped his glasses off and hoisted them into the air as the USA fans cheered in a moment that social media will surely treasure.

But for Nedoroscik, the medals he has won here in Paris are cherished far more than any internet fame.

“Representing Team USA is always an honor,” said Nedoroscik. “To be able to come out today and bring home some hardware… it means the world. This has been my goal for so many years, so I’m just beyond honored and excited.”

Hanna Barton is writing for Team USA as a graduate student in the Sports Capital Journalism Program at Indiana University Indianapolis.