Frederick Flips the Uniform
“I feel like the sport made me, and it’s time for me to make the sport.”
Olympian Frederick Richard is changing the game for men’s gymnastics. Not only is he a minority in his sport because of the color of his skin, but also for being male. Gymnastics is unlike the status quo—it is a women-dominated sport. However, using social media, Frederick “Flips” is helping increase the audience on the men's side of the sport. With 808k followers on Instagram and 901.3k followers on TikTok, he is gaining speed and flipping the narrative.
Setting the scene for his uniform debut (@frederickflips/Instagram)
On February 21st, Frederick posted on both platforms that he was frustrated with his uniform and that he was going to do something about it. He explained that the design of the pommel horse pants is weird and doesn’t make sense, and the unitard is too tight and restrictive, making it super uncomfortable. Being in the sport since a young age, he has had to deal with the aggravating annoyances for too long, so taking matters into his own hands, he designed a better, more functional uniform. This past weekend at the Winter Cup Competition, a meet that determines which athletes go to the Olympics, he daringly sprung out his new creation, turning heads and making a statement, even though this would lose him points. In his video, he explained that gymnastics is a very strict sport—the judges will dock athletes points based on their uniform, celebration, appearance, etc.
“I’m changing the gymnastics uniform and will be deducted for it. But that’s what it takes to create change. The sport made me and now it’s time for me to make the sport.”
Frederick in the “old” uniform (@usagym/Instagram)
Little Frederick already taking gold (Ann Marie Richard)
Ultimately, he felt that these deductions were worth it. Taking this risk, he was inspired by Michael Jordan's risk in wearing red shoes in basketball when it wasn’t allowed. Yet, Frederick had always been on the outskirts of his own sport. He spoke about this, giving the example that when there were 90 girls in the gym, there were only 10 boys, and of those 10, he was the only one who was not white.
Frederick’s confidence that dared him to make this leap can easily be backed by his performance. In his freshman year, as a budding Wolverine at the University of Michigan, he breathtakingly took three separate event titles at the NCAA Championships: the all-around, high bar, and parallel bar. At the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, he led Team USA in rewriting history by achieving the first podium finish since 2014. He also made his way to the Paris Olympic Games this past summer. There he helped score Team USA’s bronze medal, changing the narrative again with the first medal for USA men's gymnastics since 2008.
Frederick and his parents showing off the well earned medal (@frederickflips/Instagram)
The waves Frederick sent at the Gymnastics Winter Cup certainly sparked the conversation of updating the uniforms—proving that his risk was well worth it. In the end, was it really even a risk as he placed 2nd overall with 159.00 overall, just behind Riley Loos with 160.85 points?