American Fred Richard wins bronze at gymnastics world championships
ANTWERP, Belgium — The medal seemed to slip away the moment Fred Richard couldn’t hold on to the high bar. In the final rotation of the men’s all-around final Thursday at the gymnastics world championships, the promising 19-year-old American believed he needed to stay on the apparatus to have a chance of making the podium — and he didn’t. He thought his medal vanished as soon as he hit the ground.
But after Richard’s disappointing end, three other top contenders awaited their final performances. They faced a similar task — hit a high-stakes routine with a medal at stake. Japan’s Daiki Hashimoto, the reigning world and Olympic champion, cruised through his high bar set to secure another title, pushing Richard into third behind Illia Kovtun of Ukraine. But then the other two competitors — China’s Sun Wei on pommel horse and Japan’s Kenta Chiba on high bar — fell amid the pressure.
When Chiba’s score was revealed, it fell well short of the mark required for a medal. That gave Richard the bronze with a score of 84.332, making him the first American man to medal in an all-around competition at the world championships or the Olympics since 2012. Richard fist-pumped with both arms as he stepped onto the podium, beaming with joy that seemed improbable not long before. As he left the competition floor, he tossed the stuffed mascot he received with his medal to his mother in the stands.
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“The universe has a weird way of doing things,” he said. “So I think it wanted me to be happy with all the work I did this year and have this medal to show it. But it knew that I was going to go back to the gym and work super hard to not be in that situation again.”
Hashimoto clinched another gold with an 86.132. Kovtun (84.998) finished on pommel horse and kept his poise on his way to the silver medal.
For Richard, who was competing at his first world championships, his milestone followed another breakthrough bronze for the U.S. men in Tuesday’s team competition, which ended a medal drought that had lasted nearly a decade. With that podium finish at stake, Richard hit his high bar set as the final athlete to perform, clinching the medal. He didn’t have the same strong finish Thursday, but it turned out to be enough.
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Richard initially felt he didn’t deserve the medal, but his mind-set quickly shifted.
“Those other guys that also fell ... they had to deal with the same thing as me,” he said. “Didn’t perform as well also under pressure. But I ended up the third-best performer of the day.”
The U.S. men’s gymnastics team has struggled to produce marquee moments lately. The Americans are often outshined by Japan, China and Russia, the perennial powers of the sport. But here in Belgium, the United States is finally getting to celebrate on the podium. Richard became the fourth U.S. gymnast to medal in the men’s all-around competition at the world championships, joining Paul Hamm (gold in 2003), Kurt Thomas (silver in 1979) and Jonathan Horton (bronze in 2010).
“I think I definitely belonged,” Richard said. “And I’m happy that it showed now. My coaches tell me [it’s] one thing just being good at gymnastics, but when you’re competing, it’s all about who has the right sets that they can handle. And that’s what I felt like: I had these perfect sets built for me in this competition.”
Chiba had the top qualifying score, but in the final he took a large step back to avoid falling on vault. He could have overcome those errors if not for his most significant mistake in the meet’s final moments. Instead, Chiba (83.464) finished nearly a full point behind Richard.
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Richard, meanwhile, had an excellent evening, beginning on floor, where he earned a 14.633 — the highest mark of the competition on that apparatus. He stuck his 2½-twisting vault for the third-best score. After reaching the final event in second place, Richard finally had a major lapse, but he still delivered what he described as “probably one of the cleanest high bar finishes I’ve ever done.”
And then he waited. As a medal began to seem possible, Richard’s coach reminded him that he deserved whatever outcome might come his way. As the scores slowly appeared on the screens inside the arena, Richard’s next steps became clear: He needed to get ready for another trip to the podium.
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