Frederick Richard and Paul Juda Take It All In During the Men's Gymnastics All-Around Final

Coming off a historic bronze medal finish for USA men’s gymnastics, Frederick Richard and Paul Juda were back on the floor Wednesday for the men’s all-around final. After securing the first team podium finish for the U.S. since 2008, the University of Michigan teammates were looking to ride that momentum into the all-around competition. Managing the emotion that lingered after the team competition was no issue for the duo, but the physical effects proved to be a little more of a challenge.

“I gave everything in the team final,” said Richard. “It was worth it. But I didn’t bounce back the way I thought I would or wanted to.”

Richard started his meet off with an uncharacteristic slip on pommel horse that resulted in a fall. In that first rotation, the 20-year-old quickly realized he needed to keep his mindset in the right place to finish the competition strong. He delivered solid routines through the next four rotations, though he was right around or below qualifying on every event except vault, where he was about two tenths higher than Saturday’s score. Richard was on track to put together a strong finish on floor in his final rotation before appearing to run out of gas on his last pass and recording a fall. He ended the competition in 15th place with a score of 82.166.

“Once you realize you're not in contention, you just got to go enjoy finishing up your Olympic experience,” said Frederick on his struggles. “So, I did. I’ve got a long career ahead of me. I know I’m going to keep getting better and better and I trust the process.”

His teammate, Juda, put together a more consistent performance overall. He hit all six routines with no major errors and recorded higher scores on pommel horse, rings, and high bar than he did in qualifying. He had some trouble with landings on floor and vault that resulted in lower scores than he put up in qualifying as well as the team final. After his final rotation on pommel horse, he finished in 14th place with an 82.197, one spot ahead of Richard.

“After vault I just quickly changed my attitude,” said Juda. “I thought back to all of the non-number goals that I always try and set for myself, one of them being try hard all the time. Even at the elite level, only we know when we go to bed if we gave it our all that day. So, it was trying hard no matter what and having fun. And then be proud of the gymnastics that I was doing because at some point, I'm going to watch back the Olympics and I want to be like ‘Okay, that was awesome.’”

The 23-year-old making the all-around final was a bit of a surprise, as Frederick and veteran Brody Malone were the heavy favorites to represent the U.S. after a 1-2 finish at the Olympic Team Trials for gymnastics in June. But after several mistakes in qualifying knocked Malone out of contention, Juda found himself in Wednesday night’s final along side his Michigan teammate.

“I can only think about all the hard times I went through,” said Juda. “The brutal heartbreak of 2021 and not making it, and then just pushing myself every day in the gym. It's always worth it. It's hard in the moment because there's always something that you could be doing better. But you come to something like this and its all worth it.”

While both Richard and Juda were happy with their accomplishments in the team competition, they felt this all-around final did not reflect the level that USA Gymnastics has established in recent years. Richard, who took all-around bronze at the 2023 World Championships, said today’s finish is nowhere near his capability.

“Fifteenth place means nothing to me,” said Richard. “Yes, it's amazing and we’re at the biggest competition. But I know I have way more in me, the world knows I have way more in me. I’m grateful I get to leave healthy, and I got to experience some fun gymnastics. But I’m always aiming for (number) one.”

Both competitors, along with the rest of the team, have been open about their quest to bring even more to the table at Los Angeles in 2028. While Wednesday’s results may not have been what the Americans wanted, the outcome only makes them hungrier for what’s to come.

“It makes me more excited for the future having been through this,” said Richard. “A perfect story is kind of boring.”

Hanna Barton is writing for Team USA as a graduate student in the Sports Capital Journalism Program at Indiana University Indianapolis.