Location Paris: Stoughton gymnast Frederick Richard hopes to make his sport accessible to the masses.

The founder and president of “Frederick Flips” a company that sells sportswear does not consider himself only an athlete. He’s CEO. Influencer. A YouTuber.

By WILL GRAVES | AP National Writer

Jul 29th, 2024 at 06:38 am.

 

All the rites of passage for a teenager were available to Frederick Richard while growing up in Stoughton.

Football games. Dances. Parties. Partying with friends.

Text messages would come into his phone on a regular basis to see whether he was doing something. Richard’s reply was almost always a version of “thanks and not now. I’ve had practice.”

The requests to do the “cool things” as well as the peer pressure that goes along with it were always trumped by the gymnast’s constant belief in himself and the constant influence of his chosen sport, however unremarkable and snooty as it’s considered to be in the case of a man here in America. United States.

“It was tough because I was sort of isolated in my experience and felt a bit isolated and various other issues,” the man said. “But I’m hooked on this. I’m addicted to the fantasy.”

A dream that goes far beyond the Olympics.

Don’t get Richard wrong. The charismatic 20-year old knows that when his feet hit the floor in Bercy Arena in Paris on July 27th, this will mark the end of his relatively young career. It’s just one part of a strategy that stretches far beyond any one skill, any one event, or medal.

Frederick Flips

The founder and president of ” Frederick Flips,” a sports apparel company, doesn’t think of himself as a mere athlete. He’s also a CEO. An influencer. A YouTuber. A young visionary who has Muhammad Ali and Michael Jordan as his idols.

Yes, he is aware the implications of referring to those names.

“I’m in no rush to replicate the same things or follow routes that have been taken,” Richard said. “I’m always asking myself: What is my plan for over the next ten years? What can I do to create this path that’s never completed or this career? There’s no way to create it.'”

It’s not.

Men’s gymnastics has largely been unimportant throughout the U.S. for decades, usually being a shadow of a women’s gymnastics program which regularly produces gold medalists, who attain “first first name-only” recognition in the sport.

Richard is acutely aware that this status isn’t available to American men. He’s determined to alter that just one appearance, one viral social media post, one television appearance at an time.

“One of my goals is having somebody walk by one day and ask for their name of the name of a male gymnast, and they choose the name of a male gymnast” he explained.

What’s in a name?

This will bring him to the University of Michigan junior to his name.

Fred? Frederick? He’s tossed around for a while, before settling on one or the other based on the location. Yes “Fred” is popular for the U.S. but “Frederick Richard” is an ode to his French roots — has some more sophistication globally.

If you’re trying to establish an image, then you need to get to understand your customers.

Richard made a major move in making his name — which one you prefer — to the forefront by winning medals in all around event at the world championships in 2023. It was the first time an American male at an international competition in the last 13 years. This was an enormous move for a men’s team which has been in operation for more than 10 years.

It could have been a joyful moment. But it was not. It wasn’t exactly, anyway. Richard’s high bar routine in the final round wasn’t his top performance. He was convinced that his chances of being awarded a medal had been lost. And then, the other competitors also struggled, resulting in an outcome Richard was not sure if he earned.

It wasn’t until the Great British’s James Hall came over to felicitate Richard that Richard became more relaxed. The exchange was the reminder that in whatever ways Richard is attempting to become an international crossover star, while also increasing the accessibility of his sports to people of the world, the reality is that he’s “obsessed with the sport of being an athlete who is pushing the limits.”

It’s easy to be caught up in the whirlwind of everything that is involved in creating an identity. But beneath Richard’s breezy style is an unwavering determination that’s not driven by the swagger or ambition, but on something more fundamental.

“You notice Fred in (the training facility) and he’s grinding and sweating and doing it non-stop,” said Michigan and Olympic teammate Paul Juda. “And I’m thinking”I ought to be doing this.'”

Richard isn’t planning on ever becoming one of those influential people who only become loosely associated to what was influential about them initially.

He truly feels at home in the gym, with chalk in his hands, playing around with an exercise routine or technique or dipping into videos of the athletes who he’ll be competing against in Paris.

He is aware that the value of a medal in any color is a huge boost to this U.S. program. But why should we settle for being on the podium? Why not concentrate on reaching the top knowing that the reigning Olympic champ Daiki Hashimoto from Japan will be arriving to Paris as a strong favourite to repeat?

This is not Richard’s method. If Juda, Richard and the other members of the U.S. team arrived at the world championships in the past there was a feeling of satisfaction among the team at having won. This was simply not good enough to Richard.

“(He’s) thinking”‘Yeah, but what’s the cool thing? Let’s do the cool thing and let people talk about the cool thing”” Juda said.

Higher goals

Richard isn’t designed to be aiming lower. If he were, you would have skipped all those practices on weekends and gone to a nightclub instead. Maybe he’d allowed the fact that he was often the sole Black athlete at a track packed with mostly white athletes take a toll on him.

The problem was that it never happened. He says it was partly because that he was always accepted. Partly because he recognized the possibility that was available to him if he would remain with it.

“Kids are influenced by these great athletes,” he said. “But I couldn’t find anyone that was Black similar to me thriving at the international level (in the sport of men’s gymnastics). … I longed to be the person. I envisioned that gyms would overflow with Black children. That’s one of my main ambitions. That’s the reason I do this as well.”

It’s one of the major goals on Richard’s constantly evolving “to-do” to-do list.

Some of his best mornings begin by having a brainstorming session with his team of creatives, one which has grown over the past few years to comprise two cameras as well as one of his business partners, among other things.

He changed majors between film and business, television and media. His future goals include expanding the clothing collection, performing a bit of acting and serving as an executive producer.

“Every day, I get better at my job by learning things that are new to me,” He said. “Every day I am able to gain more clear on the things I’d like to do and what I would like to be. Now, feel that anything is possible.”

This clarity helps Richard with a feeling of the freedom. Perhaps he puts everything in his bag at the Olympics and then returns home with one or more medals in his bag. Maybe there’s no medals. He’s putting everything his energy into the present moment Yes. However, he is not going to let the outcome define his life.

“(Either either way) I’ll head home and enjoy my life as I’m living now,” he said. “So let me enjoy doing my best, and then I’m sure I’ll shine.”