Frederick Richard is ready to show the world what he and men’s gymnastics are made of

Frederick “Flips” Richard is already making a name for himself in men’s gymnastics as he heads into the Olympics, having earned a spot on Team USA and a second-place finish at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships, but he’s been captivating a social media following for years and has big plans for the future of the sport.

Richard, 20, grew up in Stoughton, Massachusetts, and started going to the gym when he was 2 years old. After seeing him on their bed doing somersaults that he had seen in his older sister’s gymnastics classes, his parents decided to enroll him in a class as well. But he didn’t listen to instructors at that age, he said, so his parents took him back to school when he was 4. Competing began when he was 6, and he “never played any other sport.”

Richard said starting young allowed him to build a strong foundation. Not only did he have to repeat levels to stay within the age limits, but he was also training with kids three years older than him.

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

Now a third-year student 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 he was 10 years old, when he was placed in Future Stars, an intensive training program for America’s top young gymnasts. That earned him a spot on the U.S. national team and kickstarted his Olympic preparation.

Richard loves the freedom with which gymnasts can move their bodies and the limitless challenge that gymnastics presents.

“This sport has no limits,” said Richard, who finds it 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 World Artistic Championships when he won bronze last year, and he took bronze in the men’s team event.

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

Richard led the men after the first night of trials on Thursday, after placing first on floor and high bar and third on parallel bars on the first night of competition.

After the second day of rotations on Saturday, Richard officially realized his Olympic dreams. He placed in the top three on floor, parallel bars and horizontal bars, and maintained a comfortable lead in first place throughout the day.

Richard was in contention for a spot on the U.S. Olympic team in the all-around, floor exercise, vault, parallel bars and high bar. In anticipation of Paris, he already has social media content planned between events in the Olympic Village.

Switch to social media

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 the number of views on each video continued to rise and Covid restrictions eased and he returned to the gym, Richard decided to combine the sport he loves with a business that took him to new heights.

Richard said he was blown away by the fact that millions of people were watching him perform his art, a feat he previously thought was possible only if he made it to the Olympics, especially because in gymnastics – particularly men’s gymnastics – “you don’t get the recognition compared to other sports,” he said.

“It felt like an opportunity to bring attention to the sport, to show who I am, to tell my own story,” Richard said of his foray into social media. “And that’s what it was. … A lot of people were touched by it.”

‘Sky is the limit’

For Richard, “the sky is the limit” when it comes to social media, especially compared to the strict world of gymnastics, in which athletes must follow a code.

On his page, followers might see him competing with other University of Michigan athletes to see who can jump the highest (no one has beaten him yet). Or they might scroll through the comments to find Grammy-winning singer SZA chiming in because she was a gymnast herself.

But that’s not what Richard wants to use his platform for most. Beyond the views and celebrity recognition, he hopes his videos will help him connect with others and encourage a new generation to get into men’s gymnastics.

Richard said he sees his impact on the sport. Today, kids come up to him after every competition, he said, especially black kids and their mothers, who tell him they got into gymnastics because of him.

“There are a lot of black kids who wanted to get into this sport or don’t know how to do it or kind of don’t have anyone to look up to, and my content has been that for them,” Richard said . “Just to learn more about myself, see what I’m doing, get inspired. And it’s pretty crazy to think about it and see.”

Richard feels “grateful” to be able to “help a group of children.”

“It’s always like unreal,” he said. “Am I the person you admire? I’m just me.”

Future prospects for men’s gymnastics

This is exciting for Richard, who wants nothing more than to contribute to the development of men’s gymnastics (well, other than an Olympic gold medal).

He said he sees his goal as “changing the sport,” which now has just 15 NCAA programs in the United States. When asked if he thought men’s gymnastics was in danger, Richard replied: “I think the sport is already dead” compared to the world’s best sports.

Richard has no shortage of dreams for men’s gymnastics. He wants children to be introduced to it in physical education classes at school, in the hope that this experience will encourage them to choose this discipline when they sign up for sporting activities. He wants there to be a professional gymnastics league and for the top 15 gymnasts in the country to be recognized on the streets.

He also wants to find a way to provide more opportunities in the sport – particularly for black and disadvantaged children – partly because of its high cost.

Richard recognizes the challenges he has chosen to take on, but he is driven by gratitude for the life he has lived through gymnastics and wants others to feel the same enthusiasm and love for the sport.

“I’ve had this opportunity through gymnastics) and I want to make those things happen for other people,” Richard said. “And I want the sport I love to get the respect it deserves.”

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com