Team USA's Fred Richard Forgot to Get His Girlfriend Tickets to Olympics

Fred Richard. Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Before taking home a bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Team USA gymnast Fred Richard made a major faux pas that might stick with him for the rest of his life. 

In an exclusive interview, Richard — who spoke to Us Weekly via his partnership with CELSIUS — explained where things went wrong. 

“My girlfriend, she goes to the University of Michigan, she flew up to see me in Paris for the team final,” Richard, 20, said. “But I forgot to get her tickets because I was busy.”

“She assumed she had tickets,” Richard continued. “She flew up, landed there and then the night before she texted me like, ‘I don’t want to bother you too much, I know you’re locking in. But  don’t forget to send me the tickets.’”

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Making matters worse, his girlfriend made the big trip to Paris with her father. Richard joked, “Yeah, I messed up big time on that one.”

Naomi Baker/Getty Images

Richard, who has kept his relationship private, is also a student at the University of Michigan and he sensed a crisis much larger than bombing an exam. With just hours to spare, Richard texted his agent, “Please fix this.”

Richard didn’t know whether his plea worked, because he had to go off the grid. “I locked in for competition,” he said. “I was just hoping she’d show up. I turned off my phone. I was like, let’s just hope the universe makes this work.”

Thankfully, Richard’s agent came through in the clutch and hooked up his girlfriend and her dad with “some good seats” to see him and the men’s gymnastics team win bronze in the team final. The third-place finish was Team USA’s first team all-around medal since 2008. 

Despite everything working out in the end, Richard knows it’s going to take a very long time for him to live it down.

“Oh, I’ve already been hearing about it,” he said with a laugh. 

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Known as “FrederickFlips” on TikTok, Richard regularly collaborates with other athletes on videos where he shows off his impressive gymnastics skills to his nearly 1 million followers on the platform.

“A lot of cool things are happening this year,” he hinted. “Once I get back to Michigan and into the flow of things, I definitely want to pursue content with other athletes from the school because I’m always hanging out with them. I’m looking forward to making that content happen.”

Celsius

His focus on the future and a push for more exciting content makes his partnership with energy drink brand CELSIUS come in handy. 

“The CELSIUS team has been very supportive of my Olympic journey and my journey in creating content and working with a lot of top athletes,” Richard said. “I want to stay with them for a while because they’re very helpful in helping athletes reach the top level instead of just, you know, fueling me.”