“Destroying Everybody”: Having Beaten Simone Biles, Fred Richard Opens Up on GOAT’s Gymnastics Comeback

World all-around champion Fred Richard expressed his reverence for arguably the greatest gymnast ever, Simone Biles, saying, “She’s just, like, on a different level.” However, in a face-to-face encounter, he gave Simone a hard time. Simone couldn’t repeat the gymnastics routines of the men’s category, yet that did not dent his respect for her. In his latest conversation, Fred proved that again.

In an interview with Fox News, the youngest medalist of Team USA brought his emotion to the fore. He clapped to Simone Biles’ current form. “The way she came back, most comebacks are good – hers is dominant, she’s destroying everybody. It’s motivating on my end. It’s fun to watch,” he gushed. At the Xfinity US Gymnastics Championships 2024, Fred Richard confirmed his Olympic trial ticket. There, Simone Biles proved her mettle again by claiming the all-around title. Fred, who wants to make his name known, can not forget that experience. 

After all, it was Simone’s 9th title win, and she performed flawlessly despite missing the mat for several months. Fred Richard was greatly impressed by her dominance. He hopes the seven-time Olympic champion will continue at the same pace and maintain her swashbuckling style in the days ahead. “I’ll be cheering her on at the Olympics, we’ll be doing our thing. It’s fun for me to look up to her when I’m younger and now be right by her side and watch her dominate,” he said.

While rooting for the GOAT of gymnastics, the former Pan-American champion is reflecting on his learning curve as well. He had previously said that he wants people to name him just like they take LeBron James’ when asked about basketball, “People will definitely come up to me and say, ‘You’re Frederick Flips right? Can I get a picture?’ or things like that,” Richard said. “It’s pretty cool.” Thus, the Olympics will be the perfect platform for Fred to witness someone who admires and looks up to. 

Since the 2016 Rio Olympics, anticipation for Simone to shine her brightest is building up ahead of the Paris Games. Since her scratching out from the Tokyo Olympics, Simone Biles’ comeback chance has drawn a lot of attention. The gymnast had many things in her mind all this while. 

Simone Biles signs in for the love of her fans 

After facing the ‘twisties’ in the Tokyo Olympics, Simone Biles developed a fear of the sport. She set aside all titles and training routines, opting instead for moves she considered less or non-lethal. Eventually, she reached a point where she stopped practicing altogether. From such a setback, making a comeback seemed like a distant dream. But like a fish out of water, Simone Biles couldn’t resist the urge, especially after September 2022.

By December, Simone had begun practicing combinations again. With strong encouragement from her coaches, Cecile and Laurent Landi, and her then-boyfriend Jonathan Owens, she gradually resumed more challenging routines. Finally, after two years and two days since her withdrawal from the Tokyo Olympics, Simone Biles made her comeback at the US National Classic 2023. Then, something unbelievable happened.

After her withdrawal from the team final and individual all-around final, Simone Biles could think of a worse outcome for her. “If I could have got on a plane and flown home, I would have done it. As soon as I landed (the vault), I was like, ‘America hates me, the world is going to hate me, and I can only see what they’re saying on Twitter right now. That was my first thought … I thought I was going to be banned from America. Because that’s what they tell you, ‘Don’t come back if it’s not gold. Gold or bust – don’t come back,’” she expressed. But in the US Classic, all she received was love. 

Being surprised at the moment, she said, “In the crowd, all the girls, all of the signs … the outpouring of love and support that I had on Twitter, on Instagram and in the arena was just really shocking and surprising to me, that they still have so much belief in me, they still love me and it just makes my heart warm, because it’s nice to come out here and have all that support, especially in a time like this where I was really nervous to compete again. I can’t ask for more.” After a year almost, the saga continues, and this has helped Simone to make another comeback after her WAG participation last year. Followers like Fred Richard live to such a day. Don’t they?