US Gymnastics Member Bursts in Tears as Life-Long Dream Becomes Reality Before World Championships

Remember the 2025 Winter Cup? This US gymnastics star, an Olympic bronze medalist, debuted a new, custom men’s gymnastics uniform in an effort to introduce, as he called it, “a modern-day switch of the uniform.” Instead of the traditional tight unitard and foot-covering pants, he opted for a cooler, more comfortable look: A looser tank top with shorts resembling a fitted basketball uniform, paired with optional leggings for events like pommel horse, where gymnasts’ legs may brush against the apparatus. And now, it had the Olympian crying.

The Player’s Tribune, Frederick Richard himself, and Michigan Men’s Gymnastics Team all collaborated on Instagram today to take us back to the behind-the-scenes of that day. The post first read something shared by Fred. “You guys ever feel like you’re chosen for something, by something? It’s like the sport is choosing me to help revive it.” And the caption read, “Fred Richard is rewriting the future of gymnastics. ❤️” And the next thing we know are the videos that long-awaited dream.

In the video, the gymnast could be heard saying, “Bro, I’m really doing this. Like, no one else is designing a new uniform, getting deducted, breaking the barriers, trying to make change, trying to show that we are going to a new direction, to a sport that does try new things, does try to improve, so we can grow…” The camera was switched after this, focusing on him, as he rubbed his eye, fighting tears.

With the camera now on him, he expressed, “It’s time for the reveal. It’s time for the reveal, Charlie! Damn! This is the tough part,” and then he opened a closet. There it was. The Michigan Men’s Gymnastics Team’s uniform. Instead of the stirrup pants, there were basketball shorts. The video then switched back to him recording himself, where his eyes began to tear up.

“It’s actually crazy that my eyes actually start tearing when I talk about this stuff. That’s actually wild because I’m not even an emotional person,” he exclaimed. Slowly, the tear drops started to roll down his cheeks.

Crying, he described the feeling as looking back at his younger self and realizing that all his dreams had come true, reaching the highest stage in the world, being recognized, and achieving everything he ever wanted. “Crying of gratitude,“ he reasoned. The Gymnastic star confessed that he wanted his younger self to see this, his dreams coming true.

Telling what a young version of him dreamt of, he said, “Full stadiums. Walk down the street, people know his name. All I want is for the sport to be where it deserves to be.” And Frederick Richards is one such man who deserves his dreams to come true. The way he risks his scores by wearing the jersey not allowed by FGI, how he helped the Children in Uganda, the way he is trying to revolutionize gymnastics, it’s inspiring.

Richards lost points at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships for his Jersey

On August 9, Fred Richards lost the U.S. Gymnastics Championships. On the first day, he had trouble sticking his landings and displayed inconsistent execution, finishing fourth, roughly six points behind the leader. Errors such as steps and wobbles on his tumbling passes hurt his score, putting him in a challenging spot for Day 2, where he would need nearly flawless routines to remain in contention. But there was a constant deduction.

Richard was penalized 0.6 points over two days for wearing a nonconforming uniform, gray shorts with leggings instead of the traditional stirrup pants. When asked whether his push to modernize men’s gymnastics uniforms is worth the risk to his competition results, he didn’t hesitate.

“It’s 1,000% worth it. If you look at these kids in the crowd, I’m thinking about them, and I’m thinking about when I was younger.” Yet, despite the deductions, he secured the silver medal in the senior men’s all-around competition with a combined score of 162.555.

Asher Kong won with a 170.020, a 7.465-point margin ahead of Fred. Normally, finishing in the top two at nationals would make a gymnast an obvious pick for the World team. However, Hong’s victory over Richard was the largest margin ever recorded by any gymnast, male or female, in USA Gymnastics history. This significant gap, along with the World Championships’ individual competition format, probably worked against Richard’s chances.