Why Team USA Olympic gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik tugs on his ear when he’s competing

It's fine, Steve. We're not crying. There's dust in our eyes.

Stephen Nedoroscik has seemingly captured the hearts of America after his stellar bronze medal-winning performance on Monday. Olympic fans might fall in love with him even more after hearing the sweet reason he tugs on his ear while competing.

Steve’s skyrocketing fame recently earned him some airtime on Today, where he wholesomely explained why you might find him tugging on his ear when he’s on TV. The move started back in college and has continued to the Olympic stage in Paris.

Here’s what he shared about what tugging on his ear actually means:

“So, this right here [tugging on ears] is for my dad’s father — my dziadek, that means grandfather in Polish — he passed away last year, unfortunately…”

“His name is Stephen John Nedoroscik, just like me. I’m named after him. And back when I was at Penn State, that was the thing that I did whenever I was on TV to say, ‘Hey, Dziadek.’ So, I’ve kept the tradition up, and now it also means ‘Hey’ to everyone that I love.”

U.S. men’s gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik tugs his ear when he’s on TV as a “hey” for everyone he loves pic.twitter.com/T7Q4cS0CBu

— TODAY (@TODAYshow) July 30, 2024