\n
![](\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/img-assets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/GettyImages-pommel-horse-guy-e1722365226767.jpg?w=2048\")
<\/p>\n [ad_1]
\n<\/p>\n
If you\u2019ve spent any time on social media in the past 24 hours, you\u2019ve probably run into the viral \u201cpommel horse guy\u201d on Team USA\u2019s men\u2019s gymnastics team, which just won bronze\u2014its first Olympic medal in 16 years. That guy\u2019s name is Stephen Nedoroscik, who executed a pommel horse routine that left his teammates cheering, jumping, and fist-pumping with excitement the second he planted his feet back on the ground.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Seconds before he began the routine, Nedoroscik, 25, removed his eyeglasses, earning him the nickname \u201cClark Kent\u201d on social media as he transitioned into his competitive alter ego. For Nedoroscik, however, those glasses are what keeps his two vision-impairing conditions at bay: strabismus<\/a> and coloboma<\/a>, which he publicly addressed on social media.<\/p>\n \u201cBasically I\u2019m cross-sighted, and I can switch my dominant eye on command,\u201d Nedoroscik said in a TikTok<\/a> he posted in August 2022, in which he was hoping to get some more info about his conditions from eye doctors online.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Strabismus is also known as eye misalignment, according to the Cleveland Clinic<\/a>. One eye is turned in a different direction than the other, usually as a result of problems with the muscles that control eye movement. While it\u2019s mainly found in childhood, it is possible for childhood strabismus to remain if it wasn\u2019t treated, or to come back in adulthood.<\/p>\n Around 4% of the U.S., or around 13 million people, have crossed eyes, according to the Cleveland Clinic.<\/p>\n Complications that can arise from strabismus include blurry vision, eye strain, fatigue, headaches, poor three-dimensional vision, and double vision. A lazy eye<\/a> may also develop, which happens when the brain receives two images from eyes looking in different directions. In an effort to avoid double vision, the brain may ignore what the turned eye sees, causing poor vision development in that eye.<\/p>\n Nedoroscik\u2019s other condition, coloboma, occurs when part of the tissue that makes up the eye is missing. This happens during pregnancy, when a baby\u2019s eye does not fully develop normally.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n According to the National Eye Institute, symptoms of coloboma include vision loss or blindness, low vision, and sensitivity to light.<\/p>\n In both cases of strabismus and coloboma, symptoms can be treated with corrective lenses\u2014in Nedoroscik\u2019s case, his Clark Kent glasses. For years, Nedoroscik has been perfecting his pommel horse routine\u2014the only gymnastic event Nedoroscik came to Paris for (thus, the \u201cpommel horse guy\u201d was born), as he watched the rest of his teammates in the other events of the Team All-Around competition. And he did not disappoint his teammates. Outside of gymnastics, Nedoroscik has another talent: solving Rubik\u2019s Cube<\/a> in 10 seconds or less.<\/p>\n Stephen Nedoroscik had to score big on pommel horse for Team USA in the last rotation\u2026 <\/p>\n AND HE DID. \ud83e\udd2f<\/p>\n \ud83d\udcfa: NBC and Peacock pic.twitter.com\/hkhiHpovyh<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 NBC Olympics<\/a> & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) July 29, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n\n
\n
\n
View the new Fortune 50 Best Places to Live for Families list. Discover the 2024 top destinations across the U.S. for multigenerational families to live, thrive, and find community. Explore the list<\/a>.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n