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Shane Wiskus selected for Paris Olympics as alternate
The Minnesota native drank in every ovation in what could have been the last performance of his career.
MINNEAPOLIS — Shane Wiskus, a member of the 2020 Olympic team, was selected to represent the U.S. in the Olympics once again, this time as an alternate.
Wiskus is retiring at the end of the competition season. The Minnesota native — who left his home state not long after the University of Minnesota cut its men’s program — drank in every ovation in what may have been the last performance of his career.
While Wiskus is stepping away, Fred Richard is poised to move into his prime. He began pointing toward Paris long ago while growing up in the Boston suburbs. Now it’s finally here and he is eager to show that there is plenty of substance underneath all that showmanship.
“I want to be a medalist Olympian, that’s my personality,” he said. “There’s always more to go. And I’m excited to just keep gunning for it.”
Richard will headline the five-man U.S. team that will head to Paris next month with a legitimate chance to medal after winning the Olympic trials on Saturday.
“It’s like a new mountain in my life,” Richard said. “And I’m ready to climb it.”
It certainly looks that way. Richard posted a steady and occasionally spectacular two-day all-around total of 170.500 at trials, just ahead of three-time national champion Brody Malone at 170.300.
Richard, known as “ Frederick Flips ” to his hundreds of thousands of social media followers, has spent years trying to nudge men’s gymnastics toward the spotlight through creative viral videos that often include collaborations with athletes in other sports.
The lights don’t get any brighter than the ones Richard and Olympic teammates Malone, Asher Hong, Paul Juda and Stephen Nedoroscik will compete under at Bercy Arena.
Nine months after earning a bronze at the 2023 world championships — the men’s program’s first at a major international competition in nearly a decade — Richard and the rest of the Americans believe they’re capable of even more this summer.
“It’s like we shouldn’t even be aiming for even just a medal,” said Richard, who also earned a bronze in the all-around at worlds last fall. “We should be aiming for gold and we’re going to land on something.”
The Americans have spent the last three years overhauling their program after finishing well off the podium at the Tokyo Olympics. They revamped their scoring system, offering bonus points at domestic meets for athletes who attempted more challenging skills.
The goal was to close the chasm in overall difficulty that had developed between the U.S. and longtime superpowers China and Japan. When the Americans saluted the judges for their first event in Tokyo they were already six points behind, the difference between the cumulative difficulty of their routines compared to the teams they were chasing.
That gap will be down to two points when the U.S. steps onto the floor during Olympic qualifying on July 27, giving them a legitimate chance to finish on the podium.
“(We are in) a much different position now,” high performance director Brett McClure said. “We’re going to be able to control our own destiny.”
And they’ll do it with the 24-year-old Malone, whose career was nearly derailed by a devastating right knee injury in March 2023. Three surgeries, 15 months and countless hours of physical therapy later, Malone’s knee is not perfect but better. His gymnastics might be, too.
Malone methodically worked his way back from the brink, though the last few weeks have been a blur. He didn’t put together a full floor routine until May, though he hasn’t exactly looked rusty. He cruised to a national title earlier this month and would have topped Richard at trials if not for a sloppy — by his standards — high bar routine on Saturday.
Considering where he was last fall when he watched the men’s program he was supposed to be the standard-bearer for between Tokyo and Paris roll on without him, Malone will more than take it.
“It crept up on me real quick I’m just super grateful for all the medical staff and everyone has helped me get back to this point,” Malone said. “I really couldn’t have done it without them.”
Juda and Hong, members of last year’s world championship team, will join Malone and Richard as the core of what will be a relatively young American team. Nedoroscik is 25. Malone is 24. Juda turns 23 on July 7. Richard and Hong are all of 20.
The quiet and unassuming Juda broke down in tears multiple times in the aftermath while Hong was relieved after a somewhat nightmarish performance at nationals — thanks in part to what he believes was rough treatment by the judges gave him little margin for error heading into trials.
“It was kind of like a battle between me and the judges,” Hong said. “That was kind of the goal. Like, ‘Try and find something (wrong) in this routine, I dare you.’”
Khoi Young will serve as the second alternates.
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Sheriff Joe Leko says the accused driver was going more than 100 mph on Highway 52 near Inver Grove Heights.
INVER GROVE HEIGHTS, Minn. — A Dakota County squad car is totaled and a park ranger is recovering after the sheriff says a speeding driver hit the vehicle from behind Sunday morning near Inver Grove Heights.
Sheriff Joe Leko says the park ranger behind the wheel is lucky to be alive after the crash sent him careening into the ditch and into a guardrail.
Leko says the incident stared Sunday around 1:30 a.m. The suspect and another driver are first caught on traffic cameras on Highway 52 as the two leave West St. Paul. The cameras show them speeding for nearly three miles until the collision happens near Interstate 494.
There was also another park ranger following the squad in a truck.
“The first vehicle tried to get between them and ended up hitting one of our park rangers that was in the left lane, sending him into the median, striking a guardrail and then a cable barrier,” said Leko.
He says the suspects were traveling in excess of 100 miles per hour.
After the crash, Leko says the suspects took off. The rangers were shaken, but not deterred and determined to track them down.
“The awareness of one of our park rangers to get a license plate of one of the vehicles led us on this investigation and brought us to where we’re at today, which is having the two drivers identified,” said Leko.
Data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety shows speeding increased particularly during the pandemic and it hasn’t really stopped since.
“We need to get in front of that and identify who’s doing that, and bring it to an end before somebody gets hurt,” said Leko.
The ranger who was hurt had minor injuries. The sheriff says the suspects are 20 and 23 years old. The investigation helped track the two down and the sheriff expects them to be charged on Friday.
“Speed matters and it can have consequences if you’re not obeying them,” said Leko. “It doesn’t take much to push somebody in the ditch and lose control.”
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Trials have shown the drug – which will be sold under the brand name Kisunla – slowed the progression of Alzheimer’s disease by 35%.
MINNEAPOLIS — An announcement by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this week is creating its own form of fireworks for families affected by Alzheimer’s disease.
On Tuesday, the FDA announced its long-awaited approval of the Eli Lilly drug, donanemab. Trials have shown the drug – which will be sold under the brand name Kisunla – slowed the progression of Alzheimer’s disease by 35% by attacking what’s considered a hallmark of the disease: protein in the brain called amyloid plaque.
And despite potentially life-threatening side effects – which include brain swelling and brain bleeding – Alzheimer’s family advocates in Minnesota and throughout the country welcome the development.
“It just continues to mean hope,” said Kanada Yazbek of Ramsey, Minnesota.
Yazbek – who was named 2024 Advocate of the Year by the Alzheimer’s Impact Movement – was diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) at only age 41 and is the seventh member of her extended family to be diagnosed with MCI or Alzheimer’s disease. Yazbek told KARE 11’s Karla Hult announcements like these give concrete hope to families like hers.
“When we had the last drug approval, we hadn’t had something for 30 years, and we get that drug approval, and my 12-year-old is like, ‘Does that mean you’re going to live longer?’ And that’s exactly what it means. It means people are not only going to live longer with these diseases but have a better quality of life, too,” Yazbek said on Wednesday, which was also her 50th birthday.
Experts have often noted that the ultimate treatment of Alzheimer’s may well be a “cocktail” of medicines, not unlike how HIV/AIDS is treated today. Given that, advocates believe donanemab – and the related class of drugs – may be one piece of the greater puzzle.
To learn more about the Alzheimer’s Association and other resources available for those living with Alzheimer’s and other dementia, click here.
NOTE: KARE 11’s Karla Hult is herself a fierce fighter for families affected by Alzheimer’s and other dementia through So Many Goodbyes, which she founded after losing her own dad to the disease in 2019.
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Download the free KARE 11+ app for Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV and other smart TV platforms to watch more from KARE 11 anytime! The KARE 11+ app includes live streams of all of KARE 11’s newscasts. You’ll also find on-demand replays of newscasts; the latest from KARE 11 Investigates, Breaking the News and the Land of 10,000 Stories; exclusive programs like Verify and HeartThreads; and Minnesota sports talk from our partners at Locked On Minnesota.
COOK, Minn. — As flood waters in northern Minnesota recede, the damage left behind is still impacting residents.
Theresa Drift is a Cook resident whose basement was flooded during the storms two weeks ago. She still can’t move back in.
“We just had to get out because we didn’t know if we would be safe anymore,” said Drift.
She spoke with Governor Tim Walz during his visit and asked for help. Residents are still waiting on federal and state assistance which could take months. Luckily for her, she has a community to lean on.
“It makes me cry,” she said. “You know, it’s like, why are you helping me? I’m just some lady on the end of the road here. And they saw people needed help. And they came in, they helped us.”
Ryan Horner and his wife own the Comet Theater, the longest-continuously running movie theater in Minnesota.
“We’re in a floodplain,” said Horner. “So you can’t have flood insurance. None of the businesses do. “
Horner said an assessment determined his business was a 95 percent loss, with nearly everything inside the theater destroyed.
They expect to pay tens of thousands of dollars in repairs.
“We’re kind of left on our own as far as rebuilding,” he said. “So we’re not sure when or if we’ll get help at all. Everyone says we will, but it’s hard to know when.”
He is raising money to get the theater back in order.
Betsy Grams is the vice president of adventure for the YMCA Of The North. Their Family Camp du Nord outside of Ely took a hit from the floods.
“That overland flooding, washed out roads in the area and created some flooding conditions in a number of our camp buildings, especially in the lower levels of buildings, including the dining hall Lodge and some cabins,” said Grams.
Grams says significant recovery efforts are underway as they raise money to repair their property.
“Even with the good news story of everyone being safe and programming not being disrupted, there’s significant amount of support still needed to restore,” said Grams.
Grams says luckily, programing won’t be interrupted this upcoming busy holiday weekend, but the DNR is urging folks to check with them before making plans to head north,
“The trails that are closed are mostly in northeast Minnesota,” said Sara Berhow, with the DNR Parks and Trails division. “There have been some trail wash outs and some road wash outs. And we’re not able to assess and start repairing those until after the water recedes.”
She says all state parks in northern Minnesota are still open. But just like in Cook, it will be awhile till things are back to normal.
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