For the Paris Olympics this summer, For The Win is helping you get to know some of the star Olympians competing on the world’s biggest stage. We’re highlighting 15 Team USA athletes in the 15 days leading up to the Opening Ceremony. Up next is Frederick Richard.
It might be his first Olympics, but men’s gymnast Frederick Richard has high hopes for Paris. The 20-year-old from Boston secured a spot on the team with an impressive first-place finish in all-around at U.S. Olympic trials and finished in the top three in three events (high bar, parallel bars and floor exercise).
Here are five things to know about Richard ahead of the Paris Olympics.
1. He competed in college at Michigan
@frederickflips Replying to @Jerome.. 🌯 thanks😌💪🏾 #gymnastics #competition #sport
Richard unsurprisingly saw great success with the Wolverines, helping Michigan finish runner-up at NCAA championships in both 2023 and 2024. He also finished first place in the all-around competition in 2023 and second this year, with NCAA titles on both parallel bars and high bar in 2023.
As a rising junior, Richard will have a chance to better those finishes in the near future.
2. His best event is high bar
As the top-qualifying member of this year’s squad, it stands to reason that Frederick is very good across most of the events. But his performance on high bar may be just a bit better than the rest, as evidenced by his No. 1 finish in the event at the 2024 Olympic trials and the 2023 U.S. national championships.
@frederickflips Still going to be clean it up more💪🏾 #olympics #gymnastics #sport #athlete
He’s not just looking to win one event in the City of Lights.
“I want to enter the Olympics with the whole country knowing, like, that’s Frederick Richard, like this man is going to do it,” Richard said in a June 19 interview with NBC.
3. His parents get super into his routines (understandably)
We could ALL use support like Frederick Richard’s parents. 👏 #USAGTrials24 pic.twitter.com/7OZYl74Y0F
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) June 29, 2024
Get ready to see his adorable parents, Carl and Ann-Marie, get into it in the Parisian stands this month. Richard’s father is especially enthusiastic, and the pair follow every flip, vault, tumble and dismount with bated breath.
4. He has an incredible TikTok presence
@frederickflips Pt.2 will be the shirt😁👌🏾#flip #flipping #michigan #umich #fyp #foryou
Whether you’re looking for behind the scenes content, highlights from routines, physical challenges or just pure personality, Richard brings it all to his TikTok account, @frederickflips.
Hopefully we will get a bit of a behind the scenes in Paris, courtesy of Richard’s accounts.
5. Men’s gymnastics at the Olympics begins on July 27
You don’t have to wait long to see Richard in action as men’s gymnastics gets underway on day one with qualifiers for all events taking place Saturday, July 27. The men’s squad will look to medal as a team with finals on July 29, and then individual events will run finals through August 5.
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