If you have not heard of Steven Nederosik, you are in the majority.  My introduction to him came during the 2024 Paris Olympics when the U.S. men’s gymnastics team was vying for a medal, the last one being won in 2008.  The cameras kept showing a man, sitting alone, with eyes closed behind thick glasses, appearing to be taking a nap.  (He later shared that he was focusing.) For almost three hours, Nedoroscik sat on the sideline as his teammates performed routines for the first five events of the competition.

As his other teammates celebrated upon completing the events for which they had qualified (the floor exercise, pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars and high bar), Steven brought them water, gave high fives and cheered them on.  During delays, he played with a Rubik’s Cube.  (He can solve one in under 10 seconds.)  I found him quirky.

The 25-year-old American had the pressure-filled task of competing at the end of the team final in the only event for which he had qualified.  As journalist Whitney Fleming wrote, “And then, like Clark Kent turning into Superman, he took off his jacket, removed his glasses, and puffed out his chest—and HE KILLED IT!”  He scored an amazing 14.866 on his routine, securing a bronze medal for his team, and immediately became an internet sensation.

Previously referred to as the “goggles guy” for the sports glasses he wore while competing, he told The Washington Post why he went without them for this event: “It’s all feeling.  I see with my hands.”

Back up a few years.  Though a junior Olympic champion, Nedoroscik had only one college intrigued by his lone ability, the pommel horse. Penn State took the risk, and it was from there the future Olympian graduated with an electrical engineering degree.

Nedoroscik has strabismus, a condition where one eye is turned in a direction that’s different from the other.  In layman’s terms, his eyes are permanently dilated.  As Fleming ended her article, “There is no one way to success, there is no one way to do this life, and there is no one way to find your purpose.”

This young man did not let his handicap hinder him.  Nor did he quit when he realized he was not good enough to compete in various gymnastics’ styles.  He simply mastered what he did best.  And that cinched the bronze medal for the U.S. team.

God gave us all talents…some more than others. How easy it would have been for this oddball gymnast to quit when the odds were against him or envy his teammates who competed in multiple qualifiers when he was talented in only one or use the excuse of his impaired eyesight. He recognized that coveting someone else’s gifts would do nothing to enlarge his, so he simply developed the one skill he could.

The Bible contains many stories of envy, one with tragic consequences.  Adam and Eve’s two sons, Cain and Abel, vied for God’s favor, and because Abel’s sacrifice to God elicited envy from his brother, Cain resorted to murder. Times have not changed.  Social media now can easily prompt us to compare and fall short.

What do we do with these comparisons? Hopefully, exactly what Nedoroscik did…strive to improve the skills God gave us instead of desiring what others have.  Easier said than done.