Fred Richard

For other people with similar names, see Fred Richards.

Fred Richard
Country represented	United States
Born	(2004-04-23) April 23, 2004 (age 19) Boston, Massachusetts USA
Hometown	Stoughton, Massachusetts
Discipline	Men's artistic gymnastics
Level	Senior International Elite
Years on national team	2019–present (USA)
Club	Massachusetts Elite Gymnastics Academy
College team	Michigan Wolverines (2023–26)
Head coach(es)	Levon Karakhanyan
Medal record Representing the  United States World Championships 2023 Antwerp Team 2023 Antwerp All-around Representing the Michigan Wolverines NCAA Championships 2023 State College All-around 2023 State College Parallel bars 2023 State College Horizontal bar 2023 State College Team 2023 State College Floor exercise 2024 Columbus Team 2024 Columbus All-around 2024 Columbus Still rings

Frederick Nathaniel Richard ^[1] (born April 23, 2004) is an American artistic gymnast. He is the 2023 World all-around bronze medalist, as well as the 2021 and 2022 Junior Pan American Champion.

Personal life

Richard was born on April 23, 2004, in Boston, Massachusetts, to Carl and Ann-Marie Richard. He has two brothers and one sister. He started with gymnastics at age four. ^[2] During the Covid pandemic he began to post videos on TikTok and gained a following of 615,000. ^{[3] [4]}

Junior gymnastics career

2019–20

Richard competed at his first elite-level National Championships in 2019. He placed eighth in the all-around but won bronze on floor exercise behind Nick Kuebler and Khoi Young. He was added to the junior national team for the first time. ^[5] In 2020 Richard competed at the Elite Team Cup and the Winter Cup. He finished third at the latter behind Fuzzy Benas and Asher Hong. ^[6] The majority of competitions for the rest of the year were cancelled or postponed due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.

2021

Richard returned to competition at the 2021 National Championships where he won the junior all-around title. ^[7] He was named to the team to compete at the upcoming Junior Pan American Championships. ^[8] While there he helped the United States win gold as a team and individually he won gold in the all-around and on vault and horizontal bar. Additionally he won silver on floor exercise and bronze on rings. ^[9]

2022

Richard became age-eligible to compete at the senior-level in 2022; however he opted to remain at the junior level in international competition. Richard competed at the DTB Pokal Team Challenge where he helped the United States finish first as a team. Individually he won gold on vault and parallel bars and placed fifth on floor exercise. ^[10] Later in the year Richard competed at the Pan American Championships where he once again led the United States to team gold and individually won the all-around competition. ^[11] During event finals Richard won gold on floor exercise, rings, and vault, silver on parallel bars, and bronze on pommel horse. ^[12]

Although he competed at the junior level internationally, Richard competed in the senior division in domestic competitions. He competed on three events at the U.S. Classic before competing in the all-around at the 2022 National Championships. While there he finished fourth in the all-around, third on floor exercise, and second on horizontal bar. As a result he was added to the senior national team. ^[4]

Senior gymnastics career

2023

Richard began competing for the Michigan Wolverines in the 2022–2023 season. ^[13] He was selected to represent the United States at the DTB Pokal Team Challenge alongside Yul Moldauer, Asher Hong, Brody Malone, and Shane Wiskus. Together they placed first as a team. ^[14]

In August Richard competed at the World University Games where he helped the USA finish fourth as a team. Individually he qualified to the all-around and horizontal bar finals. During the all-around final he finished fourth. During the horizontal bar final he finished seventh. ^[15] Richard next competed at the Xfinity National Championships where he placed third in the all-around behind Asher Hong and Khoi Young. ^[16] The following day he was named to the team to compete at the upcoming World Championships alongside Hong, Young, Yul Moldauer, Paul Juda, and alternate Colt Walker. ^[17]

At the World Championships, Richard contributed scores on four events to help Team USA to a bronze-medal finish. In the all-around competition he earned the bronze medal behind Daiki Hashimoto of Japan and Illia Kovtun of Ukraine. Richard is the youngest USA gymnast to win an individual world medal in the men's competition, and the USA's first men's all-around medalist since 2010. ^[18]

2024

During the 2024 NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championship, Richard finished second on still rings with a score of 14.400 and second in the all-around with a score of 83.999 which helped Michigan finish as runner-up in the team competition. ^[19]

Competitive history

Year	Event	Team	AA	FX	PH	SR	VT	PB	HB
Junior
2019	U.S. National Championships (15–16)		8		5	16	18	4	4
2020	Elite Team Cup
	Winter Cup				8	6	6	8
2021	National Championships (17–18)				7			7
	Pan American Championships				4			7
2022	DTB Pokal Team Challenge			5
	Pan American Championships								4
Senior
2022	Winter Cup		28	22	19	25	18	24	17
	U.S. Classic				15			8
	U.S. National Championships		4		9	12	16	8
2023	Winter Cup
	DTB Pokal Team Challenge							5
	NCAA Championships				33	5	19
	World University Games	4	4						7
	U.S. National Championships			7	17	9		8
	World Championships			8
2024	NCAA Championships			23	9		25	12	30

References

1. "Fred Richard – Men's Gymnastics". University of Michigan Athletics. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
2. "FRED RICHARD IS READY TO SHOW OFF HIS GYMNASTS, BOTH AT THE U.S. CHAMPS AND ON TIKTOK". Team USA. Retrieved September 12, 2022.
3. Cornetta, Kat (July 14, 2022). "This Stoughton teen with 615,000 followers on TikTok is a rising gymnastics star, and he's out to flip his way into stardom – The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
4. "Fred Richard Is Ready To Show Off His Gymnasts, Both At The U.S. Champs And On Tiktok". TeamUSA.org. August 18, 2022.
5. "Mikulak cruises to sixth men's all-around title at 2019 U.S. Championships". USA Gymnastics . August 10, 2019.
6. "Mikulak wins four event medals, Benas claims Junior All-Around Title at 2020 Winter Cup Challenge". USA Gymnastics . February 23, 2020.
7. "Richard, Petrosyan take 2021 U.S. Gymnastics Championships men's junior all-around titles". USA Gymnastics . June 5, 2021.
8. "U.S. athletes set to compete at 2021 Men's and Women's Artistic Junior Pan American Championships". USA Gymnastics . June 17, 2021.
9. "Seven U.S. gymnasts capture 15 medals during final day of 2021 Junior Pan American Championships". USA Gymnastics . June 21, 2021.
10. "Four U.S. gymnasts add apparatus gold on final day of men's competition at 2022 DTB Pokal Team Challenge". USA Gymnastics . March 19, 2022.
11. "U.S. juniors sweep team, all-around titles on first day of artistic competition at 2022 Pan American Championships". USA Gymnastics . July 14, 2022.
12. "Richard, Sumanasekera, Zhou golden on final day of Junior Pan American Championships". USA Gymnastics . July 16, 2022.
13. "Michigan and Ohio State Capture Big Ten Men's Gymnastics Weekly Honors". Big Ten Conference . January 30, 2023.
14. "U.S., Germany and Japan sweep team titles at DTB Pokal". International Gymnast Media. March 19, 2023.
15. "The 2023 World University Games conclude in Chengdu". USA Gymnastics . August 5, 2023.
16. "Hong rallies for U.S. men's title at Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships". USA Gymnastics . August 27, 2023.
17. "U.S. Senior Men's teams named for 2023 Artistic World Championships, Pan American Games". USA Gymnastics . August 27, 2023.
18. "Richard makes more history with all-around bronze at World Championships". USA Gymnastics . October 5, 2023.
19. Kemps, Scott (April 20, 2024). "Juda Takes Floor Title, Michigan Earns NCAA Finals Runner-Up Finish". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive . Retrieved April 20, 2024.

External links

• Fred Richard at the International Gymnastics Federation
• Fred Richard at USA Gymnastics