The head coach of men's gymnastics at Penn State University, Randy Jepson, has coached some of the sport's finest athletes, including Team USA's Stephen Nedoroscik.
Jepson who begins his 33rd season with the Nittany Lions this year told Newsweek he recognized the now Olympic medal winner's potential when he joined Penn State's team in 2017, describing him as a promising athlete with a strong technical background.
"The beautiful piece about Stephen is what you see is what you get," said Jepson, who's a three-time National Coach of the Year in 2000, 2004, 2007. "He is a light-hearted, fun-loving team guy. What people saw around the world is what we've been seeing ever since we had him the first day at Penn State."
In his freshman season, Nedoroscik won the 2017 national title on the pommel horse, earning his first career All-America honor. He became one of only four freshmen and the 54th Nittany Lion to claim a National Championship, finishing first on the pommel horse at the NCAA Championships with a score of 14.900.
"We knew the sky was the limit and then to top that off he wanted to be an engineer, it was a great fit academically and athletically," Jepson said.
Despite a promising start, Nedoroscik's journey was far from easy. He was fully aware of the challenging history of the pommel horse, an apparatus with which American men have struggled for decades.
"When Stephen came to Penn State, he couldn't do scissors very well," Jepson said. "He was great in terms of circular motion on the horse, but his scissor wasn't great."
Nedoroscik got the technical corrections needed through drills and development. Progress was gradual, but Jepson recalls Nedoroscik's determination: "If that's what it takes, that's what I'll do."
A pommel horse scissor involves, crossing the legs from behind the body to the front while keeping the hips open and the legs straddled.
Michael Jaroh, a fellow Penn State gymnast, looked up to Nedoroscik even before he stepped into the White Building, the Nittany Lions' training gym, during his freshman year.
Jaroh, who has also excelled on the pommel horse, attributed his success to the Olympian. He was named a 2023 All-American, a CGA Regular Season All-American in 2021, and earned three first-team All-Big Ten honors (2021, 2022, 2024).
"He taught me how to do my scissor," Jaroh told Newsweek. "I upgraded my scissor, now I'd like to think I have one of the best ones in the country thanks to him."
By Nedoroscik's senior year, he won the Nissen-Emery Award as the nation's top senior gymnast, becoming the first specialist to do so.
He was also named CGA Regular Season All-American, National Specialist of the Year, Big Ten Preseason Gymnast to Watch, and earned a spot on the Academic All-Big Ten Team.
Competing in his first Olympics, the 25-year-old former pommel horse world champion performed so well during qualification he edged out two-time Olympic champion Max Whitlock of Britain, scoring 15.200 to Whitlock's 15.166
Nedoroscik's hard work culminated in his performance as a specialist at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Jepson said one challenge for specialists is they often don't learn their performance order until a few hours before the meet, as was the case on Monday. However, Nedoroscik is trained to handle any situation.
Jaroh remembers many practices at Penn State in which Nedoroscik would practice just that.
"I've seen Steve do it so many times," Jaroh said. "He'd warm up, then literally just sit and wander around the gym for three hours before doing one turn and jumping into his routine."
"Going out to Pommel Horse, last guy up there in the whole competition, I had a good feeling that our team was in a great spot," Nedoroscik said in an interview. "I just knew I had to go up there and do my job."
By the time Nedoroscik approached his dismount with a huge smile on his face, he knew his job was done. The celebration started before he even touched the mat, followed by a score of 14.866. The gymnastic superhero revealed he had goosebumps, calling it the best moment of his life.
This achievement was a highlight in a monumental moment for the USA Men's Gymnastics team, which clinched the bronze medal at the Olympics for the first time in 16 years.
Jepson, who is honored to be the men's gymnastics coach at Penn State—home to more Olympians than any other school, with 22 Olympians—was deeply moved by the team's success.
"That is really close to my heart because the last time we medaled, I had another individual that was the captain of that team, Kevin Tan," he said.
While watching the event, Jepson felt confident about Nedoroscik's performance.
"My wife was so nervous, she was pacing," Jepson said. "I told her, 'He's got it.' She asked, 'How do you know?' and I replied, 'Just watch. I'll know in the first two circles. If he does those well, he's got it.' And he did. He had good tempo; it was in the bag."
The coach is exceptionally proud of his former gymnast and said he would not be surprised if Nedoroscik achieves even greater results on Saturday and Jaroh agrees.
"Oh, man! I'm just so happy for him because everyone in the country knows Steve can have an Olympic gold medal," Jaroh said. "The job is not over for him; I just got chills saying that. He definitely inspires me.
The men's gymnastics team intends to watch the event together, and Penn State plans to honor the Olympians on campus during the fall and throughout their respective sports seasons.
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