“Flips” Richard ready to make a name for himself at the Summer Olympics

By Rebecca Cohen

Frederick “Flips” Richard is already making a name for himself in men’s gymnastics as he launches into the Olympic Trials, having recently claimed second place at the US Gymnastics Championships, but he has been captivating audiences on social media for years and has big plans for the future of the sport.

Richard, 20, grew up in Stoughton, Massachusetts, and took his first steps in the gym at the age of two. After his parents saw him on their bed throwing somersaults like he had seen in his older sister’s gymnastics classes, they decided to put him in class as well. But he didn’t listen to instructors at that age, so his parents took him back when he was four. Competing began when he was six years old and he “never played another sport.”

Starting young helped Richard build a strong foundation, he said. Not only did he have to repeat the levels to stay within the age parameters, but he was also training with children three years older than him.

And then I compete with kids my age and destroy them,” Richard said.

Now a junior at the University of Michigan, where he trains and competes, he is on the verge of realizing a dream shared by many young athletes.

“I want to go into the Olympics with the whole country knowing that it’s Frederick Richard, that this man is going to do it,” he said.

The Olympics have always been on Richard’s mind, at least since the age of 10, when he was introduced to the Future Stars program, an intensive training program for America’s top young gymnasts. This helped him earn a spot on the U.S. national team and jump-start his Olympic preparation.

Richard loves the freedom in how gymnasts can move their bodies and the limitless challenges that gymnastics presents.

“There are no limits to this sport,” said Richard, which he finds addictive. “It’s a video game with a billion levels.”

Richard’s star is on the rise. He was named the 2024 NCAA Gymnast of the Year and was the NCAA all-around champion last year. He was also the youngest American to win an all-around medal at the Artistic World Championships when he won bronze last year, and won a bronze medal in the men’s team event.

He is among the top of the field ahead of the Olympic Trials in Minneapolis June 27-30 after finishing first in the floor exercise at the national championships and second overall.

Richard hopes to qualify for the Olympics in the team events, all-around, floor, vault, parallel bars and high bar. In anticipation of Paris, he has already planned content on social networks between events in the Olympic village.

Turn to social networks

Richard, known as Frederick Flips to his fans and followers — nearly a million of them on TikTok and Instagram combined — ended up on TikTok like many people have.

“It started during Covid,” Richard said. “I was just bored at home.”

His first posts had nothing to do with his life as a gymnast, he said, but as views on each video kept increasing and Covid restrictions eased and he returned to gym, Richard decided to combine the sport he loves with effort. it took him to new heights.