Fred Richard wins first world floor title in Rotterdam

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. He scored 14.633 to claim his first world title, edging Jarman by 0.033.

The 22-year-old Richard secured the gold with Simone Biles looking on as a spectator in the Netherlands. Jarman entered the final as the defending world champion, and the field included the last two Olympic gold medallists. 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.

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

On Saturday in the women’s vault final, Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade claimed her third world title. Americans Claire Pease and Skye Blakely took silver and bronze respectively, with Pease earning her first individual world championship medal at 17. Blakely’s vault bronze added to the all-around gold she won on Friday.

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