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U.S. gymnast Frederick Richard opens up about Olympic journey and his efforts to grow the fan base for men’s gymnastics
The U.S. men’s gymnastics team won a bronze medal earlier this week at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, with Frederick Richard helping to lead the team to their first medal in the team event in 16 years.
The 20-year-old gymnast from Massachusetts isn’t only captivating audiences at competitions, but also online as he works to grow the fan base for the sport.
Richard spends 10 hours a day in his gymnastics training center at the University of Michigan. It’s been a lifelong passion.
“He was a very active child,” Richard’s mother, Ann-Marie Richard said. “He was always upside down in his crib. He was literally just on his two hands doing a handstand.”
By age 2, Richard would follow his sister into her gymnastics class in Massachusetts.
“They tried to put me in gymnastics, and I wouldn’t listen,” Richard said. “So they basically kicked me out and said come back when he’s older and can follow the rules.”
He went back at 4 years old, and his journey hasn’t stopped since. At age 8, he was competing and training so hard that he asked his parents to skip family vacations.
His mother said at the time he was at the gym a minimum of three hours per day and loving it. She said they encouraged him to try other sports, but Richard stuck with gymnastics — and it’s paying off.
The University of Michigan gymnast finished first in the all-around at the U.S. Olympic trials in June, just weeks after his second place finish at the U.S. Championships.
At 20 years old, he’s the youngest man to compete in the sport at the Olympics since 1972, but it goes beyond competing. For Richard, it’s his personal mission to get more people interested and involved in men’s gymnastics.
“I grew up in a gym that if you’re lucky, 10% of the people in the room are male gymnasts and the rest are women,” he said. “I grew up not even wanting to tell people that I do gymnastics … It’s why I want to get as many kids into the sport as possible, as many Black kids into the sport as possible because that was another thing I struggled with growing up.”
Social media has helped Richard put a spotlight on the sport. His more than 1 million Instagram and TikTok followers know him as “Frederick Flips.”
In one post, he and Olympic champion Simone Biles challenge one another to show the differences between men’s and women’s gymnastics.
“In gymnastics, you have a specific code book, you have to follow the rules. In social media there are no rules. I can do my gymnastics however I want and get millions of views.”
In the beginning, his parents admitted that they were concerned about Richard’s use of social media.
“The only thing that worried me was by doing that, ‘How much time are you taking from gymnastics?'” said his dad, Carl Richard. “And he told me he’s helping to grow the sport.”
Looking back at a video of a competition from when he was a kid, the college gymnast turned Olympic medalist had a message for his younger self.
“I just know at that time I was having a lot of fun and just doing what I loved. And so I wouldn’t change a thing, and I would just say, ‘You’re doing amazing.'”
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Sean “Diddy” Combs taken into federal custody in New York
Sean “Diddy” Combs has been taken into custody by federal authorities in New York, CBS News confirmed Monday night.
In recent months, the hip-hop mogul has faced multiple accusations of sexual abuse and physical violence. In March, Combs’ homes in Los Angeles and Miami were raided by Homeland Security Investigations agents and other law enforcement officers due to a possible ongoing sex trafficking investigation, U.S. officials said at the time, but no charges were filed then.
The charges against Combs on Monday were not immediately known.
“We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the U.S. Attorney’s Office,” Marc Agnifilo, an attorney for Combs, said in a statement. “Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is a music icon, self-made entrepreneur, loving family man, and proven philanthropist who has spent the last 30 years building an empire, adoring his children, and working to uplift the Black community. He is an imperfect person but he Is not a criminal. To his credit Mr. Combs has been nothing but cooperative with this investigation and he voluntarily relocated to New York last week in anticipation of these charges. Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts. These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court.”
Combs has faced a number of lawsuits in recent months involving allegations of sexual misconduct and violence. Combs and his representatives have denied all the accusations.
In May, Combs apologized for a security video aired by CNN that appeared to show him attacking Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, in a Los Angeles hotel hallway in 2016. He said his behavior was “inexcusable” and he takes “full responsibility” for his actions.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
contributed to this report.
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