Olympians are proving you don’t need 20/20 vision to win gold medals. Glasses seem to be the standout stars of the 2024 Paris Olympics. The most notorious example? “Pommel Horse Guy” Stephen Nedoroscik, of course. It started when fans took note of Nedoroscik, not only for his chill demeanor but for the moment he took off his nerdy glasses and, like Clark Kent, transformed into a pommel-horse superhero to win the U.S. men’s gymnastics team their first gold team medal since the 2008 Games. “When I go up on the pommel horse, it’s all about feeling the equipment,” Nedoroscik told the Today show. “I don’t even really see when I’m doing my gymnastics. It’s all in the hands — I can feel everything.” He’s been so inspiring that an eyewear brand has even.
Nedoroscik isn’t the only Olympian sporting glasses and winning medals. Brazilian gymnast Rebeca Andrade, the 25-year-old who has been Simone Biles’s toughest competitor, finally managed to win her first gold medal in the floor event on Monday. Already a fan favorite, she managed to gain even more attention when she pulled out her glasses to read the score after squinting at the screen for a moment. Like Nedoroscik, she doesn’t need to see to do her sport so well, but she sure does need to see to know she’s won. “I tried to use contact lenses, but I didn’t like it because I started to see [the beam] really well, and I don’t want to see it so well,” she said. Other glasses-wearing medal-winning athletes include Australian swimmer Kaylee McKeown, Turkish shooter Yusuf Dikec, and Irish swimmer Daniel Wiffen.
The response to these medalists wearing glasses has been both seriously inspiring and just plain funny. An optometrist on X wrote, “Many children with glasses are told they can’t play certain sports. They are not even given the opportunity to try. To see an athlete at the top of his sport proudly wearing glasses is so important. Representation matters.” Another X user said, “A special thank you to the Olympics for all the conspicuous glasses-wearing making us visually-challenged folk look not only on trend but, dare I claim it, downright sexy! It’s been a long time coming.” Here’s to the latest breakout star of the Olympics. I’m wearing my glasses with pride today.
