It’s not every day that a legendary athlete like Simone Biles takes the time to share a viral internet moment with you, but for American gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik, this was just another unexpected twist in his rise to stardom.
25-year-old Stephen catapulted to fame after his standout performances on the pommel horse at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The spectacled Olympian from Worcester, Massachusetts, also became the subject of a plethora of memes as shots of him with his eyes closed before his bronze medal-winning performance for the team final went viral.
American gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik revealed a special kind of fan interaction he had with Simone Biles at the Olympic Village in Paris
Image credits: Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images
After he became a meme, the gymnastics star said he had to “mute” everything to prepare for his final Olympic event on Saturday, Aug. 6.
“It does definitely get overwhelming,” he told Teen Vogue. “I literally had to just take it all and put it on mute because I had a mission — I had a job to do here.”
Following his new-found stardom, Stephen said he was recently on the receiving end of a very special kind of fan interaction with Simone, the most decorated American Olympic gymnast of all time.
The 25-year-old gymnast's performances at the Olympics catapulted him to fame and sparked a flurry of memes
The 11-Olympic-medal winner made sure to stop Stephen in the Olympic Village and show him one of the countless memes that have come about, featuring the new American hero.
“That's just so surreal because I don't think she really even knew what my name was a month ago,” he told Teen Vogue. “She's just an icon, she's the GOAT.”
The Team USA gymnast flew back home and arrived at Florida’s Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport on Tuesday, wearing his signature glasses and his pumped fist in the air.
Stephen became so popular that even gymnastics legend Simone Biles stopped to show him a meme of himself
Image credits: Simone Biles / Instagram
Even though he didn’t stay in Paris to attend the 2024 Olympics closing ceremony, he said he is glad he can “finally take a breath.”
“I've been so locked into gymnastics for probably five months now, it's like I now have all this time to just breathe, heal up, and relax — and kind of appreciate the year that I've had in this sport,” he told the outlet.