Fred Richard didn’t have a first-place finish in the Winter Cup 2025, but he still managed to be on the top! Confused? The Olympic medalist had been the sole member of his Paris Olympic squad to enter this year’s Winter Cup edition. He did have less competition in the contest. But he had the responsibility to show that he wasn’t a fluke. He had to show that he was equally penetrative six months after the Paris Olympics. At last, Fred hit the bingo and set the needle in the history book. 

On the second day of men’s artistic gymnastics in the Winter Cup 2025, Fred Richard took the runner-up title in the men’s all-around event. He claimed the title with a score of 159.000. His second medal in the contest’s history! However, the Stanford Cardinal had its separate moment in this year’s Winter Cup. How so? The alum Riley Loos bagged the all-around title, keeping a slight edge over Richard. His score stood at 160.850. Not only in the all-around event, Riley left his mark in floor exercise and steel rings events, taking the topmost podium. However, Riley’s all-around title had something to do with the Cardinals’ glory book. 

Riley Loos’s achievement in the Winter Cup 2025 is the first all-around title of such kind in Stanford Cardinal’s long history. Now talking about history, Fred Richard played with something in this year’s Winter Cup. Are you wondering what he did? In the event, he attempted to go beyond the so-called uniform rules active in the elite contest. And believe us, the rules go back as long as the 1896 Olympics. Under those rules, the men’s gymnasts are bound to wear the troublesome singlet while competing. A failure to obey such rules could only result in deductions in points.

Fred Richard thoroughly knew this part of the story. Still, he decided to jump over the rules. How, you may ask! Well, on February 20, Richard wrote an Instagram post. The post had lines like, “We can make it way looser. but still will show everything it needs to show, look clean.” Actually, Fred decided to wear pommel horse pants, a pair of shorts, and a loose tank top. The mere attempt to wear these would deduct points from his scores, pushing him out of the top list. Yet the 20-year-old was adamant about trying it out. 

Fred Richard didn’t care about the deductions. He needed to get to the heart of the obsolete norm. To complete that job, he was even ready to lose the points, as he knew something for sure. In his Instagram from February 20, he wrote about it: “I’ll have to still perform really well and I’m going to have to pop off, so I can still win.” And see, Fred has hit what he wanted to hit. Steps like these might prove to be useful for the men’s gymnastics. However, this is not the first time he has done something to help men’s gymnastics grow. 

Fred Richard holds the mirror to the current problems in men’s gymnastics 

In the previous several months, the men’s gymnastics sport has witnessed a few bold attempts by the stalwarts to break the chains. The first attempt came from Stephen Nedoroscik. The 2-time Olympic medalist displayed his discomfort with Ohio State’s decision to slash the athletics scholarship for the male gymnasts. A serious attack on the prospect of men’s gymnastics in the USA, the Olympian claimed. His takes on the issue found a shape in his social media post.

On October 3 last year, Stephen wrote on X, “Ohio State removing athletic scholarships from Men’s Gymnastics. Yet again, another step backwards for MGYM. With the success of current and former NCAA gymnasts at the Olympics you’d think NCAA programs would be excited for the upcoming season, not stripping away opportunities.” Notably, in the Olympics last year, the Fred Richard-led Team USA men’s gymnastics team did an outstanding job, winning its first team medal in the last 16 years. And unfortunately, in the same year, they had to see critical things, the question mark on the future of men’s artistic gymnastics in the USA. 

In October last year, Fred Richard also showed concern for men’s gymnastics in the USA. In his interaction with Cleveland Magazine, he said, “Most males aren’t choosing gymnastics when they first choose a sport.” You can guess the reasons behind this lack of will to choose gymnastics—the lack of support from the universities, the outdated rules, and many other things. Stephen began the process of issuing a challenge. Fred has just taken it to the next level!