Richard in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Photographer: Kareem Black for Bloomberg BusinessweekThe World’s Most Online Male Gymnast Prepares for the Paris Olympics
Fred Richard has a million-plus followers on social media—and that number will climb much higher if things go right at the Summer Games.
Frederick Richard opens the door, welcoming me to the University of Michigan’s Newt Loken Training Center as if it’s his home, which for all intents and purposes it is. He’s here at least six days a week, 10 hours a day. It’s one of the first true spring days in Ann Arbor, and it feels hotter inside than it is outside—quite possibly a humid 90F. Although Richard lives half a mile away with five other gymnasts, the 20-year-old world-class athlete and social media star eats all his meals at the training facility. He’s even contemplated spending the night here, depending on how practice is going.
By late afternoon, when we meet, he’s been working out for six hours. (It’s a light day.) Last year, Richard was third in the all-around event at the artistic gymnastics world championships in Belgium, and his jaw-dropping performance in the group competition secured a bronze for the US men’s team, breaking its nine-year dry spell in team medals. He was also the youngest male gymnast ever to medal at the world games. Richard is so young, in fact, that he could compete at the next three Olympics.