ROTTERDAM, Netherlands — Frederick Richard, the Stoughton gymnast who was a member of the bronze-medal winning United States Olympic team in 2024, helped the American entry earn a bit of redemption at the World Gymnastics Championships on Saturday.
After a seventh-place finish in the team final, Richard took gold in the floor exercise, edging Jake Jarman of Great Britain.
The 22-year-old Richard, who has spent the last several years trying to raise the profile of the men’s side of the sport through social media, posted a 14.633 to give the Americans their third individual gold in the last two years.
With the victory, Richard became the first American man to capture a world title on floor exercise since Paul Hamm in 2003.
Though Richard was left off the US world championship team last year, Saturday marked his latest strong showing as he looks to solidify his candidacy for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. In August, Richard captured his first US men’s gymnastics all-around title.
Richard said after competing in the NCAA championships for the University of Michigan last spring that he would have a gold medal of some variety around his neck at worlds. A performance that showcased his maturity made it come true.
“It’s OK to manifest,” Richard said. “It’s OK to talk big and believe in yourself. Put in the work every day. As long as that is true, that you’re actually putting in the work, it can happen, and it does happen.”
Richard graduated from Michigan in May, and made the decision to remain in Michigan to train with his college coach, Yuan Xiao.
Still, Richard has maintained an active presence in his hometown. In August, he hosted the second annual Frederick Flips Fair at Stoughton High School, a community event which celebrates gymnastics with games, food trucks, obstacle courses, and performances.
Jarman, who came in as the defending champion on the event, put together a more difficult routine but was nicked by judges for his execution. His 14.600 wasn’t quite enough to knock Richard off the top of the podium.
Carlos Yulo, the reigning Olympic champion on floor, sat during his second tumbling pass and finished eighth in the eight-man final. Arsenii Dukhno of Russia, who topped qualifying, bounded out of bounds after overcooking a tumbling sequence and wound up sixth.
In the women’s competition, newly minted all-around champion Skye Blakely added to her medal haul at the world gymnastics championships, earning bronze on vault and uneven bars during the event finals on Saturday.
The 21-year-old from Dallas, who soared to gold in the all-around on Friday after recovering from injuries that wrecked her Olympic hopes in 2021 and again in 2024, hardly looked tired in what has quickly become the meet of her life.
Blakely averaged a score of 14.166 on her pair of vaults to share the podium with gold medalist Rebeca Andrade of Brazil and American teammate Claire Pease.
Andrade, the Olympic champion on vault and the Olympic silver medalist in the all-around in Paris behind Simone Biles, edged Pease for gold. The 27-year-old Andrade, who is competing as an event specialist at the moment while eyeing a run at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, averaged 14.666, a bit ahead of Pease at 14.233.
Kaylia Nemour of Algeria recovered from a misstep on vault in the all-around finals on Friday that cost her a medal to easily defend her gold on uneven bars. Nemour’s intricate and technically demanding routine — perhaps the hardest currently being done by any gymnast, male or female, on any event — earned her a 15.333, the highest score of the day.
Helen Kervic of Germany captured the silver at 14.833, with Blakely in third at 14.600.
Blakely, who joined Olympic champions Biles and Nastia Liukin as well as Rebecca Bross as the only American women to win at least four medals at a single worlds, will have a chance to add to her medal total on Sunday when she competes in the beam final.