Rising US star Fred Richard wins first world gymnastics title with floor gold

American Frederick Richard won the floor exercise title at the world gymnastics championships in Rotterdam on Saturday, finishing ahead of Britain’s Jake Jarman and Israel’s Artem Dolgopyat.

With US gymnastics great Simone Biles looking on as a spectator in the Netherlands, the 22-year-old Richard secured his first world title, edging out Jarman by just 0.033 points after scoring 14.633. Jarman, the defending world champion, was among a field that included the last two Olympic gold medallists.

“I hope this is a lesson to everybody that you don’t have to wait to get the win to say you will be a champion,” Richard said afterward. “You don’t have to know when it’s going to happen or how it’s going to happen, but believing it every second of every day does pay off. I’m proof of that now.”

Richard became the first American man to win a world title on floor exercise since Paul Hamm shared gold in 2003. He is also the first American man since Danell Leyva to win medals across team, all-around and individual apparatus events at the Olympics and world championships.

Richard, who won bronze in the all-around event at the 2023 world championships in Antwerp, also helped the United States win team bronze at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Elsewhere on Saturday, Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade claimed her third world title on vault, with Americans Claire Pease and Skye Blakely taking silver and bronze respectively. It was a first individual world championship medal for the 17-year-old Pease, while Blakely added to the all-around gold she won on Friday.

The championships conclude on Sunday with the remaining apparatus finals, including the women’s balance beam and floor exercise and the men’s vault, parallel bars and horizontal bar.