Frederick Richard Is Ready to Bring the Noise As Gold Over America Hits LA

Frederick Richard Is Ready to Bring the Noise As Gold Over America Hits LA

Inside Gymnastics has an advertising and promotional partnership with Athleta Presents Gold Over America Tour starring Simone Biles. Stay tuned for more behind-the-scenes coverage on all of our social media, InsideGym.com and in Inside Gymnastics magazine!

 The Athleta Presents Gold Over America Tour (GOAT), starring Simone Biles and the best-of-the-best female and male competitors from the gymnastics world, are leaping into 30 arenas around the U.S. this fall. The high-energy and high-flying, gymnastics-meets-pop-concert spectacle kicked off in Oceanside this week to sold out audiences and stars Biles, Jade Carey, Jordan Chiles, Hezly Rivera, Paul Juda, Brody Malone, Frederick Richard, Joscelyn Roberson, Shane Wiskus, Yul Moldauer, Trinity Thomas, Katelyn Ohashi, Peng-Peng Lee, Mélanie Johanna De Jesus Dos Santos, Ellie Black, Ian Gunther, and Casimir Schmidt. All are set to bring their talents from the world stage to the GOAT stage to entertain audiences around the country!

Tickets are On Sale Now!

For more information, visit www.goldoveramericatour.com.

Frederick Richard Is Ready to Bring the Noise As Gold Over America Hits LA

Fresh off their bronze medal finish in Paris at the Olympic Games – the first team medal in 16 years – Frederick Richard sent a message to men’s gymnastics around the globe: “My goal was to make a statement that the U.S. is getting stronger and stronger and we’re only going up,” Richard said. “I think a lot of young boys watching are inspired by us. I was like five feet in the air jumping. I was incredibly thankful and just proud of us.”

With the post Olympic hype still in full swing, there’s also a sentiment from Richard, and the rest of the team, that while winning the medal was historic, incredible, and absolutely a dream come true, it’s really only the beginning of where he believes the U.S. men’s team could be by LA 2028. Gold is on his mind, and Paris was the first step.

At the Games, the team of Asher Hong, Paul Juda, Brody Malone, Stephen Nedoroscik, and Richard hit 18 for 18 routines during the Team Final, chants of ‘USA! USA!’ filling the arena like a home game. It brought the capacity crowd to its feet, many in tears. It created a media sensation that’s continued and can be felt in gyms across the country as the team – brothers united in one quest and believers from the start – became heroes and shot to stardom overnight.

Five men, all from NCAA programs, won an Olympic team medal. Five men, who were down after Qualifications, but who never counted themselves out, saw their flag rise. The medal ultimately validated the long-time Olympic podium dreams of those who came before, and those who built back the program. It also fuels the next generation who will be inspired long after the chalk settled inside Bercy Arena.

Richard lit up the crowd in Paris and rocked the house in Team Finals just as he had all season long in the States, and at the 2023 World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium where he took bronze in the All-Around there. He’s ready to get back to Michigan – he was the Big 10 All-Around Champion in 2024 and 2023 All-Around, parallel bars and high bar champ as a freshman – and compete for an NCAA team Championship in 2025, and of course continue to build upon the U.S. momentum and hype as the road turns to Los Angeles.

“It’s the first step, the catalyst of hopefully going in that right direction of building the sport,” he told us. “I think we have a lot to do this year to keep moving.”

First though, he’s on the road with the Athleta Presents Gold Over America Tour alongside an all-star cast including his Olympic teammates Brody Malone and Paul Juda. We spoke with Richard on day one of GOAT rehearsals to catch up on Paris, his impact on the sport so far, and what he’s looking forward to most on tour.

Let’s start with this mini-reunion! How was it getting back together with everyone after Paris to start rehearsals for Gold Over America?

It was a fun little reunion after we all got our little disconnect and breaks in different areas. So, it’s fun to come back and see how everybody’s doing and what they’ve been doing. We got right into it on day one of rehearsals – my body was sore by the end of it – but it’s fun! This is a whole different mind challenge, because in gymnastics, we’re always trying to learn new skills and put it together. But now, we’re learning new skills, but small skills and 100 of them in sequence! I think it’s very fun and it’s a good, healthy way to stay active and get back in shape before the season starts while having fun with the whole crew. 

It was such a special memory for all of us there watching and covering Paris. So for you, having this time to reflect now on what you accomplished, how has it set in? And what impact is finally having that team Olympic medal going to make?

When we were going into the Olympics, for years, we always said, ‘you know, we want to bring more eyes to the sport. We want to show our program is building and it can be big and successful, too.’ After getting the medal, I feel like we hit that first checkpoint. People loved our story. I think whenever someone was watching the full meet start to finish, they never forgot about us, because they saw the teamwork, the sportsmanship and the energy we showed. They were so supportive of it, and they loved watching that. So, I feel like we got a lot of people loving our stories in the sport.

On this tour, I feel like all of us have that subconscious feeling to capitalize and keep pushing us forward, because we still have a long way to go. But it’s exciting because we’re in it finally. We’re not standing outside saying we wish something would happen to start it. It has started, and now we have to keep the ball rolling.

I took a minute yesterday to go back and watch the Team Final. When you all were going through the competition, did you sense that the medal was going to happen for you guys, or were you just laser-focused on the next routine, the next skill? 

That’s the crazy thing. Of course, we’re focused on the next skill, the next thing, the next routine, but I could feel it… like, you can kind of just feel when everything is working out right, and everything is going to work out right, you know? You still have nerves, but you can just feel the next routine is going to be great, and the one after that is going to be great. It’s all going to come together. It almost felt bigger than us, like the universe was just pushing us that direction. And all we had to do is just trust it because our bodies knew how to do it and it’s kind of like we all were intertwined in the universe. It was helping us go through smoothly, enjoy the moment, because it’s going to all work out. 

What does it feel like now to have the next generation, all of the younger kids looking at you and saying, ‘I want to be the next Frederick Richard’?

It’s still unreal, honestly. I’m just someone, of course, I’m a normal person, also, I was just obsessed with the sport, and now somehow I’ve reached the top and I have the power to actually help these kids and influence them and inspire them. So that part, I’m grateful for. When I decide I want to do something, when I actually do it, it has an impact. And that’s amazing. And it’s funny, when I was growing up, I’d see the pictures of the last Olympians that won medals, which was 16 years ago, and I’m like, ‘dang, I can’t imagine what it’s like to be on a team like that.’ And now, there’s gonna be that same picture with us five at gyms. 

What was it like seeing your family after getting the team medal, and then also the reception coming home? 

Seeing your family is great, and it’s fun, because they’ve seen the whole journey all the way from, obviously, birth, to everything behind the scenes. They really got the win, too. They’ve sacrificed a lot, and it’s fun to come back to them with the success and see the pride in their eyes and the tears and all of that. Coming back home is like a little fun party. It’s like the people that you haven’t seen or talked to in five years come out to see you. Like my first grade teacher, second grade teacher, third grade teacher – all the people that were a part of your life –  and honestly who did say, ‘you’re gonna be an Olympian one day.’ They all came back. So that’s very funny to see them and think, ‘I know the last time you saw me in person was when I was 8-years-old, and now you’re looking at an Olympian.’

What are you most looking forward to about the tour?

I’m just excited to get close with us gymnasts on the road, and meet new people along the road. I just love the connections that these events bring. Every night we’re just celebrating in front of thousands and thousands of people, and that energy that’s going to just be flowing into my body is going to be really, really fun.

I think celebration is the perfect way to describe it – just showing everyone your excitement…

I feel like that’s my thing. I think I’m going to thrive in that environment and just let it all out. The showmanship part is fun.

For you, balancing tour with training, being a student-athlete at Michigan, talk about organizing everything over the next couple of months… 

The last three days, I’ve been keeping up with schoolwork while doing the rehearsals, while doing media, and I’m just definitely working my brain a lot more on organizing, keeping things written down and paying attention to every detail so I don’t fall behind. But, it’s kind of fun. Usually, my challenge is, you know, doing the hardest gymnastics possible, trying to win. Now my challenge is organizing and getting everything done in the day while my body heals a little bit from the hardest difficulty.

When I spoke with Brody, one of the comments that he made was about the NCAA camaraderie that you all have had over the last few years and its role in helping achieve that goal of winning the team medal. He believes it could really have an impact on helping save men’s NCAA gymnastics in the States. Do you have similar thoughts on that and that this is hopefully going to speak to some of these administrators who look at men’s gymnastics as the program to cut?

I’m also hoping that we did spark that. But, I do strongly believe hope isn’t going to be enough. It’s like we need something in place, we need to do something about it, and I’m trying to figure out where our role can come in. Yes, we did the first step of doing that performance that might inspire people, but just like, what can we do right now to get in their faces stronger and push it harder? Because I think it’s going to take a lot more than that. We might have helped the programs that are in, you know, have a reason to stay, but it’s like, how do we get 50 more programs into college gymnastics? 

I think that’s a whole different beast. I’m hoping to start building something to push and start getting the right people involved where this is a movement. There needs to be more, and maybe I need to start it, because something needs to be put together where we’re actively, every day, pushing these colleges. Because no one said anything to these colleges that never even thought to have gymnastics. They might have watched the competition and be thinking about it, but no one’s pushing them to do it, you know? I mean, so we’ll have to see where that goes.

Live men’s gymnastics is the most exciting, most amazing thing, and we want everybody else to feel that, too. With all this momentum behind you now, are you hoping one of the things that comes out of this tour is that ultimately more boys sign up for the sport and people start watching every year as opposed to every four years?

That’s what’s very, very important to us. So I think we’re going to push to make sure it has that effect. You know, if we need to stop in a city and visit a school or do something to just get kids to see this and get kids to be interested, that’s the stuff I’m willing to do. 

I think we’re going to be loud on this tour. I think we’ll try to be everywhere, in all places, and everywhere on social media. We’ll be loud, you know, as the best gymnasts in the world.

Photos by John Cheng

The tour schedule is as follows (subject to change):

September 20 Los Angeles, CA Crypto.com Arena

September 21 San Jose, CA SAP Center at San Jose

September 23 Salt Lake City, UT Maverik Center

September 25 Denver, CO Ball Arena

September 27 Minneapolis, MN Target Center

September 28 Milwaukee, WI Fiserv Forum

September 29 Chicago, IL United Center

October 1 Newark, NJ Prudential Center

October 2 Pittsburgh, PA PPG Paints Arena

October 4 Philadelphia, PA Wells Fargo Center

October 5 Brooklyn, NY Barclays Center

October 6 Boston, MA TD Garden

October 8 Baltimore, MD CFG Bank Arena

October 9 Charlotte, NC Spectrum Center

October 11 Sunrise, FL Amerant Bank Arena

October 12 Orlando, FL Kia Center

October 13 Duluth, GA Gas South Arena

October 15 St. Charles, MO The Family Arena

October 16 Kansas City, MO T-Mobile Center

October 18 Austin, TX Moody Center

October 19 Houston, TX Toyota Center

October 20 Fort Worth, TX Dickies Arena

October 27 Cleveland, OH Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse

October 29 Indianapolis, IN Gainbridge Fieldhouse

October 30 Louisville, KY KFC Yum! Center

November 1 Greensboro, NC Greensboro Coliseum

November 2 Cincinnati, OH Heritage Bank Center

November 3 Detroit, MI Little Caesars Arena

For more information, visit www.goldoveramericatour.com and follow @goldoveramericatour on Instagram and Facebook; #GoldOverAmericaTour.

For our behind-the-scenes feature on the 2021 the Athleta Presents Gold Over America Tour, Click Here!

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