“I’m really passionate about changing the support around the sport,” said Fred Richard to CNBC after the end of the Paris Olympics. His campaign during the competition would certainly help raise the perception of male gymnastics among viewers. Leading a team of Asher Hong, Paul Juda, Brody Malone, and pommel horse specialist Stephen Nedoroscik, Fred helped Team USA win their first medal in 16 years with a bronze. Their performances were widely praised all over the country.

This helped him get an invitation to comic legends Kevin Hart and Kenan Thompson’s Olympic highlights, which led to a rib-tickling exchange. There, Fred joked about Kevin, who is known to be quite short, saying he has the ideal weight for gymnastics. Kenan Thompson then asked Fred whether he could dunk a basketball. When the gymnast showed hesitation to reply, Kevin jokingly remarked, “Fred, it’s a yes or no godd— answer, man.” This meant that Kevin Hart didn’t believe he was tall enough to dunk.

However, Fred uploaded a video on TikTok on October 5th, where he uploaded a video of him doing exactly what they thought he couldn’t do. He dunked a basketball! But the technicalities made it funnier. He made the former NBA Champion Iman Shumpert lift him up so that he could place the ball in his basket. He captioned the video, saying, “Take that, Kevin.”

It seems that Fred Richard took Kevin Hart’s remark quite seriously. The gymnast was genuinely trying to learn how to dunk from Iman Shumpert. In an Instagram post, Iman can be seen teaching the gymnast his signature BIG one-handed cutback dunk. But Fred was struggling as the ball was mostly slipping his hands when he was trying to dribble against the 6ft 5-inch tall icon. The former Cavaliers player then gave some tips to the Olympic bronze medalist on how to correct himself. He felt that Fred was being anxious and jumping too forward.

Then they performed the move, which later became the video targeting Kevin Hart. He lifted the gymnast in his arms so that he could dunk the ball. But even then, Fred was struggling to place it in the basket! It took him six attempts when finally the ball went in. This back-and-forth with Kevin Hart is not only funny, but could also help Fred Richard with his final goal. That is, to bring more eyes to the sport of male gymnastics.

Fred Richard wants to make male gymnastics more popular

Female gymnastics have enjoyed the limelight for numerous years now. Their male counterparts have mostly taken the backseat due to their performances not being on the level of theirs. But now it seems like things are looking optimistic for them. This is because of their bronze medal victory at the Paris Olympics. Fred Richard, however, wants to take it to another level. He wants to make the sport reach mainstream status.

He said, “My overall goal for the future is to grow the sport as much as possible and bring as many eyes to it as I can, and I think the Olympics are just one part of this whole journey. The men’s side of gymnastics has been much smaller than the women’s side for a long time, and while I’m here, I want to change that.” But things seem to be in the right direction for this to happen.

After the unexpected victory at the Olympics, there has been a sudden surge in the popularity of male gymnastic athletes. This has also opened numerous doors for them to further their careers. The most interesting one is Stephen Nedoroscik. As the hero of the bronze medal-winning team, he is now competing at Dancing with the Stars and earning huge accolades.

Brody Malone, Fred Richard, Yul Moldaeur, and Paul Juda are all part of the ongoing Simone Biles’ Gold Over America tour. Although the first edition of the tour didn’t include male gymnasts, Simone decided to change things up this time. Thus, while male gymnastics took the backseat for many years, it is now finally emerging into the limelight thanks to the Olympic bronze medal-winning team. Hopefully, this growth will continue for years to come.