Fred Richard delivered a consistent second-day showing to run away with his first national championship in the men’s all-around competition at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships on Saturday in Phoenix.
Richard, the reigning NCAA all-around champion from the University of Michigan, effectively sealed the title long before the competition concluded, finishing over two points clear of the rest of the field at 170.015.
Shane Wiskus (167.964) finished in second place, while Danila Leykin (167.001) rounded out the podium in third. Joshua Karnes (164.552) and Yul Moldauer (163.896) were distant fourth- and fifth-place finishers.
Richard, 22, is just the second Black man to win the U.S. all-around championship. John Orozco was the first, doing so in 2012.
While Richard won a bronze medal in the team competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics and collected two bronze medals in the team and all-around events at the 2023 World Championships, he made it clear this was the premier accomplishment of his career.
“I strived my whole life to get here, it took 20 years, four championships later as a senior, but we’re here,” Richard said on the NBC Sports broadcast. “It shows the hard work is paying off.”
Richard entered the second night of all-around competition with a narrow lead of less than two-tenths of a point over the 19-year-old Leykin. Leykin took the lead on the first rotation Saturday, delivering a strong showing on the high bar.
But Leykin then fell twice on tumbling passes during his floor routine while Richard was strong on the parallel bars, allowing Richard to leap over two points clear of the field and never letting the margin get within two points the rest of the way.
The national champions in the six men’s individual disciplines were also crowned on Saturday. Richard took home a second gold medal, also coming out on top in the floor competition.
Moldauer, who was on the 2020 Olympic team, won his fourth U.S. parallel bars title, while Kameron Nelson (vault) and Patrick Hoopes (pommel horse) each won their second national title in their respective disciplines. Cooper Kim (high bar) and Asher Cohen (rings) were both first-time national champions.
Stephen Nedoroscik, who became an internet sensation known as “Pommel Horse Guy” after taking Olympic bronze in the event in Paris, fell off the apparatus on Saturday and dropped from second after day-one results to finish in fifth place.
The championships conclude on Sunday with the second day of women’s competition.
–Field Level Media
