The sport of men’s gymnastics takes a great deal of balance physically. No matter the apparatus, the ability to keep one’s balance and stay steady is usually a major aspect of being successful.
As the reigning world all-around and team bronze medalist, Stoughton’s Fred Richard has conquered physical balance. The months leading up to a potential spot on the US team for the Summer Olympics in Paris, however, are teaching Richard all about mental balance.
Richard was slated to compete at the USA Gymnastics Winter Cup meet Feb. 23 in Louisville, Ky., but withdrew Tuesday with what was billed as a “minor injury.” In making the decision, Richard and his coaching team at the University of Michigan are following the measured approach they have established for the months ahead: Find a balance between competing full-out at every opportunity and saving his best for Olympic selection and the Games themselves.
“I’d say the perfect balance is having to be humble,” said Richard this past Monday, before announcing his Winter Cup withdrawal. “At the level I am, I know I can do these big routines. I know I need these big routines for the Olympics and for national championships.
“Coming into an early event, it’s tempting to kind of just show the world everything I can do and put everything out there, but it’s not really the best way to ramp up for future events.”
This differs from the last two years of Richard’s career. To establish himself as one of the nation’s best, he was concerned with taking on maximum difficulty as much as possible. Now that he has made his mark both nationally and internationally, he needs to dial down that pressure.
“It’s very different from what I used to do as a kid where you just throw all your difficulty in now, and then try to clean it up for months and months,” said Richard. “That doesn’t really work because you start pounding on your body too much for too long. So that’s what we’ve switched for this year’s planning.”
The strategy means Richard has taken the floor for Michigan only a handful of times this season. He has yet to do the all-around, but when he has competed, he has gradually shown his Olympic-season upgrades.
One routine that has turned heads is his vastly improved pommel horse. Last year, his high score on the apparatus was 14.1, and at most meets, he scored in the 13s. In his opening college meet of the season Jan. 20, Richard scored a stellar 15.0. The nearly point increase in score was actually an example of addition by subtraction.
“This routine had my two new skills in it” — including a triple Russian — “but it had one less skill so I could handle it,” said Richard. “I’m just trying to master the form on that before I put the last skill back in, which is one I’ve done for years, so it won’t be hard to add back in.
“Pommel horse is usually a weak event for both me and the US team. I wanted to show that I can drop big scores on pommel horse, which would make me a much stronger all-arounder.”
Richard also has added upgrades on high bar, his trademark. He has added a Liukin, which is a Tkatchev with a full twist. In layman’s terms, that means he releases the bar, twists one full turn in a laid-out position, then catches the bar. He has always been known for his release skills, and this one just ups the ante.
The Liukin, he said, “has an extra full turn compared to the skill I was doing before. I feel like my high bar is just maturing more and more and shows a lot of potential, which is great.
“I still have two skills that I have planned out for later that I’ve competed for years, but I took them out while I mastered this new skill. So there’s a lot of potential for that routine.”
In addition to his practices and his sophomore year of classes, Richard is still creating content for his popular Instagram and TikTok accounts. A recent video series in which he and other Michigan athletes try each other’s sports has been popular. From football to field hockey to track and field, he challenges them to vertical jumps, leaps, and backflips, and in exchange tries their sports.
“Every single one impresses me in a different way,” said Richard. “Riley [Ammenhauser], the long jumper, she jumped almost 6 feet. She destroyed me. There’s so many athletic monsters here at Michigan, and that’s fun to see because outside gymnastics, I’m passionate about sports, physical performance, and just pushing the next level. It’s fun to bring all of us together.”
Richard also continues to break ground with NIL deals, leading the way among men’s gymnasts with deals with Celsius drinks, Crocs, and other brands. He also is scheduled to join Simone Biles on her post-Olympic tour. If that weren’t enough enough, this week he was named a semifinalist for the AAU Sullivan Award as the best Olympic or collegiate athlete in the country.
Two years ago, Richard spoke of hoping to do for men’s gymnastics what Biles has done for women’s gymnastics, and he is on that path. He is eager to see even more Massachusetts gymnasts reach new heights.
“The community in New England gymnastics built me,” said Richard. “The kids looking up to me in the same system that built me, they can head in the same direction as me.”
Kat Cornetta can be reached at sportsgirlkat@gmail.com.