After he nailed the final mount on his thrilling high beam routine, his parents, Ann-Marie and Carl Richard, had the most delightful reaction in the stands to watching their son thrive on the global stage.
Wouldn’t you be proud if you were Frederick Richard’s parents? Their absolute joy in watching their son crush his Olympic routine is just as wonderful to watch as Richard’s outstanding performance.
As Richard continues to rise as one of the world’s best gymnasts, we’re sure his parents will have plenty more Olympic celebrating to do for their son.
The 20-year-old Michigan Wolverine is ready to make some noise at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
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.
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
Jun 29, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Frederick Richard competes on the high bar during the U.S. Olympic Team Gymnastics Trials at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports
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.
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)
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.
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.
Get ready for some amazing content this summer in Paris.
The men’s Olympic gymnastics team was set on Saturday night as the field was narrowed down to the five men who will compete for Team U.S.A. Frederick Richard, a 20-year-old from Stoughton, Massachusetts, was the first to officially make the squad as he finished atop the standings after the two-day U.S. Olympic Team Trials.
Richard also finished top-three in three events — first on high bar, second on parallel bars and third on floor exercise — but he’s not only a gymnast. The reigning world all-around bronze medalist has quite the presence on social media.
Using the handle @FrederickFlips, Richard has over 660,000 followers on TikTok and shares fun videos of his training and performances.
