For the first time in sixteen years, the U.S. men’s gymnastics team left an Olympic arena with a medal in hand. Bronze at the Paris Games marked more than just a return to the podium. It was a turning point. A moment built not solely on scores or skill but on intuition, timing, and an almost eerie sense of collective belief. And at the center of it stood Frederick Richard, the 20-year-old who had long been considered the future of American gymnastics and proved in Paris that his moment had arrived. The night before the medal, he already felt it.
The men’s team final in Paris carried a weight few outside the gymnastics community could fully grasp. The United States had not claimed a team medal since 2008, when the program relied on depth to survive injuries and pulled off a surprising bronze in Beijing. For over a decade, the men’s team had hovered near relevance, promising lineups, close calls, and no medals. In 2024, that changed.
With Japan and China continuing to lead the field, and host country France also in strong form, the pressure to break through was immense. Yet within the US team, the mindset remained calm. Richard, in particular, carried an inner assurance that bordered on prophetic.
That confidence was not rooted in the results from qualifications. The U.S. men had finished fifth, competitive, but not within immediate striking distance. But they saw things differently. “That was kind of the vibe, like, we have nothing to lose for the underdog,” Richard said in an exclusive interview with Inside Gymnastics. “We trust in each other, and I was so comfortable going into day two, because day one didn’t go how the world expected.”
Their trust showed when it mattered most. Richard delivered consistent routines across multiple apparatuses. For him, the moment was not simply the culmination of effort but was the fulfillment of something he sensed all along.
Paris 2024 Olympics – Artistic Gymnastics – Men’s Team Victory Ceremony – Bercy Arena, Paris, France – July 29, 2024. Bronze medallist’s Stephen Nedoroscik, Paul Juda, Brody Malone, Frederick Richard and Asher Hong of United States celebrate on the podium with their medals. REUTERS/Hannah Mckay
The bronze lifted Team USA’s overall medal count to 20 on Day 3 in Paris, with three gold, eight silver, and nine bronze. In men’s gymnastics, it capped off a series of performances that emphasized steadiness over flash. Stephen Nedoroscik anchored the effort, delivering a critical pommel horse routine as the final U.S. gymnast of the evening. “If I put this dismount up, Team USA gets a medal!” he had told himself. The team’s achievement, though long-awaited, felt less like a surprise and more like the result of careful preparation, and, in Richard’s case, certainty.
Richard’s role, however, extends well beyond the competition floor.
Since breaking out at the 2023 World Championships with a historic All-Around bronze, the first by an American man since 2010, he has focused as intently on shaping the sport’s future as on winning medals. Through his FrederickFlips brand, he’s cultivated a vast online following and brought attention to men’s gymnastics in a format more accessible to younger audiences. At February’s Winter Cup, he debuted a loose-fitting uniform that resembled basketball attire, designed to make athletes feel both confident and comfortable.
While the design drew criticism, including competitive deductions, Richard embraced the challenge of making it better. “It’s honestly been a very fun journey of trying to unite people, or at least, satisfy as many people as possible,” he mentioned.
Now, with updates planned for the upcoming US Championships, he remains committed to transforming not just how gymnastics is performed, but how it is perceived. Paris may have offered a podium, but for Frederick Richard, the work and the vision continue.
Fred Richard trades tradition for transformation with a bold new gymnastics uniform to bring a change
Frederick Richard does not approach gymnastics as a discipline frozen in time. At 21, the Olympic bronze medalist is charting a deliberate course toward transformation, one that extends far beyond the podium.
At this year’s Winter Cup, Richard reintroduced his custom-designed uniform, once again forgoing the standard issue of long pants and leotard in favour of a streamlined tank top and shorts. Though modest in appearance, the ensemble marks a departure from decades of convention, and Richard has little interest in seeking approval before moving forward. “There will be a new uniform. Yeah, you heard it here first,” he said plainly.
Paris 2024 Olympics – Artistic Gymnastics – Men’s Team Final – Bercy Arena, Paris, France – July 29, 2024. Frederick Richard of United States reacts after his performance on the Horizontal Bar. REUTERS/Mike Blake
The updated design, created in partnership with Turn Gymnastics, retains functional considerations such as optional leggings for apparatus like the pommel horse. Yet the garment’s real significance lies in what it represents: A quiet challenge to the sport’s stagnation.
Richard has worked closely with a designer to address what he called “all the pain points that I hate about the uniform,” focusing not merely on comfort but on visibility. “If I keep the same old uniform and we make no changes and we try no new things, why are we doing all this work?” he exclaimed. “We’re going to go to championships, and if that crowd is one-tenth full, it’s like why are we doing all this work?”
Richard has already accepted the potential penalties: A three-tenths deduction per day of competition. But he appears unconcerned. What matters to him is not short-term judgment, but long-term consequences. “I want people to watch the sport,” he shared. “I want people to want to make changes in the sport to grow it.” In that, the new uniform is not merely attire. It is a proposal, and perhaps a warning, to a sport reluctant to evolve.
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