From medal-winning New England athletes to local journalists, Bay Staters have plenty to be proud of in this year’s competitive games.
NBC Sports Boston’s Trenni Casey is pitching in as a studio host from NBC Sports’ main office in Connecticut.
“Someone puts my shoes on for me,” NBC Sports Boston reporter-anchor Trenni Casey told Boston Public Radio on Monday. “It’s hard not to be happy every day.”
Tens of millions of people have been tuning in to the Olympics, stunningly high ratings that Casey attributed to politics.
“People are desperate to not be angry,” she said. “We are so polarized right now and everyone is so burnt out. ... I think it’s something that everyone can collectively come together on.”
Several Olympians — including a gymnast, a cyclist and a rugby player — stood out to Casey from the field of athletes with New England ties.
Steven Nedoroscik, “Pommel Horse Guy”
“Did you know he can’t see when he’s on the pommel horse?” Casey said of the U.S. male gymnast.
The Worcester athlete, who takes his glasses off right before doing his routine, was dubbed the “Clark Kent of gymnastics” by fans on social media.
Nedoroscik has become one of the breakout stars of this Olympic Games since memes about him flooded social media after he helped the American men’s gymnastic team secure a bronze medal in the team competition. He went on to secure another bronze in the individual pommel horse event on Saturday.
Teammate Frederick Richard is another local — from Stoughton — who competed in several gymnastic events to help the men’s team bring home their first medal in 16 years.
Kristen Faulkner
Cyclist Kristen Faulkner went to Phillips Academy in Andover and then rowed at Harvard University.
She won the women’s road race on Sunday, breaking away from the pack with just three kilometers left in the race, winning gold and finishing nearly a full minute before the silver medalist.
“It was an unbelievable tactical race,” Casey said.
The athlete got into the sport less than a decade ago after taking a cycling class in New York City as an after-work activity. Faulkner wasn’t supposed to compete in the race at all but nabbed a spot when a teammate dropped out at the last minute — and then she won gold.
Faulkner still has the opportunity to win a second medal in the women’s team pursuit competition.
Ilona Maher
“My favorite story so far of the Olympics is the [U.S.] Women’s Rugby team,” Casey said. “They won bronze. And it’s the first time they’ve won a medal — any [U.S.] rugby team has won a medal — since the 1900s, in a hundred years, for USA rugby.”
One of the player’s from the team, Ilona Maher from Burlington, Vermont, competed for the women’s rugby team and won a bronze medal. The athlete has quickly risen to fame due to her social media presence.
“[She’s] all over Instagram and TikTok. And she’s all about body positivity, and women not discounting 6-feet tall, 200-pound women, that they can’t be feminine,” Casey said.
