ANN ARBOR – Junior Fred Richard of the University of Michigan men’s gymnastics team has been named to the Time100 Next list, Time Magazine’s list of the Next 100 most influential people in the world.
Richard competed in the 2024 Olympics for Team USA, helping lead the team to a third-place finish for its first team medal since 2008. The Stoughton, Mass., native also qualified for the individual all-around, finishing 15th in his Olympic debut.
Qualifying for the Olympic Games after winning the all-around and high bar at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials, Richard is the youngest men’s gymnast (20 years old) to qualify for the Olympics as a Trials champion since 1972. At the 2024 USA Championships, he won the floor exercise title and finished second in the all-around and on the high bar.
A seven-time NCAA All-American, Richard is a three-time NCAA national champion (2023 all-around, parallel bars, high bar) and a three-time Big Ten champion (2024 all-around; 2023 all-around, high bar). He was named the 2024 Big Ten Gymnast of the Year, 2023 Big Ten Freshman of the Year and the Big Ten Gymnast of the Championships in 2023 and 2024.
An expansion of the TIME100 list of the most influential people in the world, TIME100 Next highlights 100 emerging leaders who are shaping the future of business, entertainment, sports, politics, health, science and activism, and more. The full list and related tributes appear in the Oct. 14 issue.
Named a “Phenom,” Richard is among athletes Ilona Maher (rugby), Summer McIntosh (swimming), Jannik Sinner (tennis), and CJ Stroud (football) to earn a TIME100 Next nod.
