"When it pays off, it's the greatest thing" - Fred Richard on becoming first American man since 2010 to win world championships all-around medal

Fred Richard has expressed pride and joy at winning a bronze medal at the Gymnastics World Championships. On Thursday, October 5, Richard captured bronze in the individual all-around competition at the world championships in Antwerp, Belgium. In doing so, he also made US gymnastics history.

He is now the youngest American man to win a gymnastics world medal in the individual competition. He is also the first American man to win a world all-around medal since Jonathan Horton, who took bronze in 2010.

Speaking to 'Gymnastics Now' after the event, Richard expressed satisfaction at his hard work paying dividends.

"The universe has a weird way of working it out to give me this medal. I think they want to show the world how hard I've worked this year and I guess I get to show it now so I'm just really excited about that," he said.

The 19-year-old has been vocal about his goals all year and stated that manifesting success has been an important part of his journey.

"[Manifesting my goals] has been very important. I mean, when you're going along this super hard journey, every second of your life you're thinking about these goals. You might as well have a positive, happy attitude about it, you know," he said.

"When I go to the gym every day I am happy because I know I am working towards getting medals. And when it pays off, it's just the greatest thing. But the journey itself was just as fun because I was happy the whole time and committed to getting this," he added.

Richard now has two medals at the event, after he, along with Asher Hong, Paul Juda, Yul Moldauer, and Khoi Young, won the team bronze a day earlier.

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Fred Richard: "I'm excited to come back in the future competitions and push for that gold"

Fred Richard in action at the 2023 U.S. Gymnastics Championships in San Jose, California.

While Fred Richard won the bronze medal in the individual all-around competition in Belgium, the other spots on the podium were filled by Japan's Daiki Hashimoto (gold) and Ukraine's Illia Kovtun (silver).

Richard stated that it was exciting for him to share a podium with two athletes who he has followed for a few years now.

"I think it's really exciting. I've watched these guys for the last two, three years and they're come up in the international level. Now I get to stand there right next to them, which is pretty cool," he said.

"Now they're my competitors of course, I'm excited to come back in the future competitions and push for that gold. But it was just fun," he added.

The teenager looked to have a good rapport with Hashimoto, which Richard stated was 'fun'.

"I was rotating with Daiki and we had great chemistry, congratulating each other after each set. So it was just fun, yeah," he expressed.