Before every competition, the United States men’s gymnastics team was asked the same question: What will it take to bring home a medal? 

Now, they know the answer. 

It’s been almost 24 hours since Frederick Richard, Brody Malone, Asher Hong, Paul Juda and Stephen Nedoroscik captured the U.S. men’s first Olympic team medal in 16 years. 

Reality still hasn’t sunk in. 

“I don't think any of us really understand the scope of what this achievement really means in the USA, and especially for USA Gymnastics,” Nedoroscik told NBC Olympics. “I think that we’re just getting started with what this (new reality) is, really.”

There hasn’t been much time for celebration yet. Following the medal ceremony, the team was quickly ushered into interviews. They managed to spend just over 30 minutes with their families before being swiftly called away once more.

However, the team did carve out a few moments to bask in the moment with their medals out on the patio at the Olympic Village. 

“Two nights ago we were out there all together, and started to talk about our gameplan for the team finals. And Fred said, 'Man, it would feel a lot better if we had a medal on our chest.' So we made sure to do that last,” Nedoroscik said. 

Then it was off to bed – the medal resting on the nightstand – to prepare for another day full of TV show appearances and interviews. 

They wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Standing on the medal podium alongside two powerhouse teams from Japan and China is the moment the U.S. team has been striving toward and training for throughout the entire Olympic cycle.

Hitting 18 routines when it mattered most was undoubtedly a huge contributing factor to ending the medal drought, but raising the difficulty level of their routines over the last three years also helped take the teams performance to the next level. 

“As a national team, we decided to increase our difficulty and take some risks, and it definitely paid off,” Hong told NBC Olympics. “Brett (McClure) and Jason (Woodnick), our high performance director and vice president, really helped to support our risk-taking. So shout out to them.” 

The bronze medal moment was a storybook ending for Malone, who battled back from a rough day of competition during the qualification round to contribute critical routines for his team when it mattered most. Malone did not advance to the all-around or high bar final, making the team final his last performance in Paris. 

“I mean, that definitely wasn't my best competition, but when you're an elite athlete you have to have a short memory and be able to turn things around,” Malone told NBC Olympics. “So I took the next day to kind of reset mentally and be ready to go for the team for finals.”

Malone missed the majority of the 2023 season due to a devastating knee injury where he had to re-learn how to walk. At one point in time, his chances of making it to Paris seemed uncertain. Now he will be leaving Paris - with his team - as an Olympic medalist. 

Hong's spot on the team seemed uncertain at one point too, after finishing tenth all-around at the national championships, where the results were pivotal for selection. Nevertheless, he was resolute in not letting a disappointing performance derail his dream.

“I just put in the work after champs,” Hong said. “I just wanted to make the team really bad and show that I was the man for the job and that I could (deliver) clutch performances, and I did at trials. I just trusted the training leading up to this competition. I think the doubt fueled my training to get to this point.” 

Nedoroscik has had his ups and downs as well – dealing with wrist injuries along with the disappointment of not making the Tokyo Olympic team in 2021. 

As a pommel horse event specialist, Nedoroscik has spent the past three years perfecting his craft to be prepared for just one 40-second routine if called upon. Along the way, he has become a world champion and a four-time national champion on the event. 

When the team arrived at the competition hall ahead of the final, Nedoroscik’s first move was busting out the Rubik's cube – which he solved in 9.3 seconds (falling short of his fastest time of 8.6 seconds) – before getting a quick stretch in with the team. Then came the long wait – over two hours – for his moment to shine. 

It was no problem for Nedoroscik, who watched his teammates drill routine after routine. “How could you go crazy (sitting around) when all your boys are hitting routines and sticking vaults?” Nedoroscik said. 

The team competed with a calm, confidence – staying in their “bubble” to avoid seeing how other teams were doing. After each rotation, Nedoroscik and Richard intentionally covered their ears and yelled at each other so they wouldn’t hear the scores being announced in the arena. 

The mindset coming into the competition was to treat the Games as if it was an NCAA Championship – a familiar environment for all five team members. Malone and Nedoroscik are graduates of Stanford and Penn State, while Hong currently reps Stanford. Juda and Richard compete for the University of Michigan. 

“We've all been through the NCAA program, and we've all competed at the NCAA championships, so we just went out there and treated it like that,” Malone said. “We were competing for the team; competing for each other, and it made it a little bit easier.”

During the fourth rotation, Nedoroscik headed to the training gym to get warmed up. He knew exactly what he needed to do in the sixth and final rotation as the very last gymnast for Team USA. 

“The whole time I was just thinking about the competition and when it was going to be my turn,” Nedoroscik. “I planned days ahead what it was going to look like, so I just followed that plan to a tee, and it worked out very well.”

Indeed it did. 

Juda and Malone started the rotation strong, setting the stage for Nedoroscik to bring it home. 

Nedoroscik didn’t watch either routine, though he admits he stole a quick glance during Malone’s set. Instead, he centered himself by closing his eyes and focusing on his breathing — a moment that has since inspired a flurry of memes and Clark Kent comparisons. The world was enamored by his transformation from the quirky guy with glasses on the sidelines to the medal-clinching hero.

“Before I go, I sit there, close my eyes, and do my breathing exercises, because you know, when it's almost your turn, your heart rate starts going. You get excited, you get nervous,” Nedoroscik said. “I'm just trying to do my thing to keep my heart rate down. But it's hard to ignore all your teammates screaming … I was just trying to visualize (my routine) in my head and then I opened my eyes a little bit and saw them all hugging (Brody) and jumping up and down.” 

At that moment a slight smile formed on Nedorscik’s face. He couldn’t help it. 

“That smile was kind of me saying to myself, ‘I've never fallen when everyone before me hits,’ Nedoroscik said. “In that moment, I was like, ‘Brody did the job for me. I'm going to hit this routine.’”

And that’s exactly what he did. The rest is history.