Photography by Wes Roberts.

The returning U.S. Olympic Pommel Horse Bronze Medalist Stephen Nedoroscik touched down at SRQ Airport on Delta Airlines Tuesday at 7:23 pm on his trip home to Sarasota from the Olympic Games in Paris, France.

Greeted by a cheering crowd of enthusiastic friends and fans waving large signs and balloons and wearing American flag capes, the 25-year-old first-time Olympian shared, “For the past five months now, I’ve been very locked into gymnastics, every single day. That's kind of what you have to do when you're training to be an Olympic medalist. So now that that weight is lifted off my shoulders, I'm just ready to go home and sit in my gaming chair and relax a little.”

If the excited people who flew with him are any sign, Nedoroscik makes as strong an impression in person as he has through TV and iPad screens. Passengers from the plane came down the gangway ahead of the athlete, proudly announcing to the waiting crowd, "He was on our flight! He is right behind us! " A man who claimed to have been Nedoroscik's seatmate from Atlanta told waiting reporters, "We talked the whole flight. He's a really nice young man."

Excited to welcome the returning champion was Tess McCracken, the athlete's girlfriend, who also attracted attention with her enthusiastic cheering during Nedoroscik's winning performance. McCracken had flown back to Sarasota a few days earlier and was already planning to make the most of the couple's downtime, "I'm looking forward to doing some more things in the area. I'd love to go to Busch Gardens, the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, stuff like that. Just to be able to hang out as a normal couple."

Kevin Mazeika, the Executive Director of Evo Gymnastics and one of the coaches who went to Paris with the team, was exuberant with praise for Nedoroscik, "He has really become quite the hero because he had a heroic performance. It was pressure-packed on the biggest stage for our sport, and he came through with flying colors. We're really, really proud to welcome him home."

Stephen trains at EVO Gymnastics in Sarasota with Sam Mikulak, who was also named as the coach for the 2024 U.S. Men’s Gymnastics Olympic Team, and Paris Olympic Games teammate Brody Malone and alternate and 2020 Tokyo Games Olympian Shane Wiskus. Stephen says he is already looking forward to the 2028 Olympics to be hosted by Los Angeles, California, but for right now, he is happy to spend some time enjoying online gaming in Rocket League and online chess, as well as honing his skills with a Rubik's Speed Cube.

Photography by Wes Roberts.