Stephen Nedorscik's eyesight: Team USA’s ‘Clark Kent’ wins bronze despite rare eye condition
PARIS, FRANCE: Olympic gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik is currently drawing global attention for two notable aspects: his proficient performance on the pommel horse routine, which secured a bronze medal for Team USA on Monday, July 29, and his eyeglasses, per Prevention.
While seemingly inconsequential, the sight of an athlete wearing glasses on the Olympic stage is fairly uncommon, leading to speculation about his visual impairment.
The 25-year-old has not recently discussed his eyewear, as he is currently preoccupied. However, his triumphant victory and subsequent investigating on social media have brought attention to a TikTok video from 2022, in which he disclosed details about his vision and sought assistance from eye care professionals. Here’s the information he has provided about his eyesight thus far.
Stephen Nedoroscik is 'cross-sighted'
Stephen Nedoroscik revealed in the aforementioned video that he’s "cross-sighted," which allows him to switch the focus of his vision from one eye to the other.
In the video, he demonstrated how he is able to do this. In the caption, he used the hashtags #strabismus, referring to the misalignment of the eyes, and #colomba, which pertains to the absence of some eye tissue from birth that can lead to vision loss.
“I’ve done some research on it and can’t really find any information,” he claimed in the 2022 video.
It took two years, but Nedoroscik's recent fame eventually led to him obtaining some answers. The video caught the attention of the popular social media ophthalmologist, William Flanary, known as Dr Glaucomflecken.
In a response video, Dr Flanary provided more insight into the gymnast's eyesight condition.
Dr Flanary explained that Nedoroscik is farsighted, meaning he struggles with seeing things up close, and he has a specific type of strabismus called esotropia, “where one or both eyes are turned inward.”
He mentioned that the misalignment often manifests in early childhood, which appears to be the case for Nedoroscik, as evidenced by a younger version of him with one eye pointing inward in his TikTok profile picture.
Dr Flanary clarified “Because of the farsightedness, his eyes are working so hard to focus that they end up turning in,” adding, “Fortunately, glasses can do a great job of making the eyes straight.”
Dr Flanary also acknowledged that Nedoroscik's ability to alternate his focus between his eyes likely aided in his normal vision development in both eyes, rather than just one.
“He probably doesn’t have great stereo vision, which is when both eyes are working together simultaneously,” he explained. “But that clearly hasn’t stopped him from reaching the pinnacle of his sport.”
Stephen Nedoroscik's sports goggles are his good luck charm
Stephen Nedoroscik used to wear sports goggles during competitions, but they didn't have prescription lenses, as he mentioned to PBS' WPSU in 2022.
It was more of a superstitious good luck charm for him because he “likes to have fun out there,” he explained.
Surprisingly, he forgot his goggles when he hurried to compete at the 2021 Gymnastics World Championships and still managed to clinch first place. It turns out that he didn't really need "The Specs", as he and his teammates humorously called them.
Some might have observed that on Monday, the 'Clark Kent' of gymnastics took off his glasses before beginning his pommel horse routine.
He told The Washington Post, "I don’t think I actually use my eyes on pommel horse. It’s all feeling. I see with my hands."
Notwithstanding his already successful Olympics campaign with a bronze medal, in the apparatus final in Paris, Nedoroscik will contend for an individual gold medal, and everybody’s eagerly anticipating his performance.
