Fred Richard became the men’s U.S. National Champion on Saturday, cruising to his first career title. Heading into Saturday’s competition, the Olympic and World medalist maintained a slim lead over rising star Danila Leykin. Despite a formidable challenge from veteran athlete Shane Wiskus, Richard pulled away from the field on Saturday in Phoenix.
Though Leykin took an early lead on Saturday, Richard’s consistency prevailed across six events. With his win, Richard becomes only the second Black man to win the U.S. all-around title, joining John Orozco (2012).
1. Fred Richard (Michigan): 170.015
2. Shane Wiskus (EVO Gym): 167.964
3. Danila Leykin (EVO Gym): 167.001
4. Joshua Karnes (EVO Gym): 164.552
5. Yul Moldauer (Oklahoma): 163.896
Scores from Thursday’s first night of competition carried over into day two, with consistency prevailing over one-time efforts. With national titles and World Championship selection on the line, here’s how the action unfolded in Phoenix.
The six individual events saw multiple winners across the board.
Patrick Hoopes successfully defended his pommel horse title, while Cooper Kim won his first U.S. title on the high bar. Richard also won gold on the floor, while 2020 Olympian Yul Moldauer won his fourth U.S. parallel bars title. Asher Cohen won gold on the still rings while Kameron Nelson won his second U.S. title on vault.
Phoenix Play-by-Play
Rotation One:
Of the all-around contenders, second-place Danila Leykin was first to go. Drawing rousing cheers from the Phoenix crowd as he mounted the high bar, Leykin stuck his double-twisting double layout dismount to an immediate roar. He received a 14.963 – a .300 improvement from night one. The teenager was off to a hot start.
2020 Olympian Yul Moldauer started his night on pommel horse, an event where the veteran struggled on night one. On Saturday, he showed impressive improvement, tallying a strong 13.900 for a near 1.5-point leap.
Fred Richard began his title chase on parallel bars, an event where he placed sixth after night one. Going routine-for-routine with Leykin, Richard showed strength and composure in his routine, sticking his dismount for another roar from the crowd. Richard scored a strong 14.453, but just short of what he needed to match Leykin’s massive start.
Wiskus also started his competition on a high bar, looking for a significant improvement from his night one score of 13.250. Wiskus accomplished his goal, notching a strong 14.200 to stay in the all-around race. After a riveting first rotation, 19-year-old Leykin claimed a slim lead.
After One: 1. Danila Leykin: 99.136, 2. Fred Richard: 98.784, 3. Shane Wiskus: 97.407, 4. Taylor Burkhart: 96.034, 5. Cooper Kim: 95.918.
Rotation Two:
Needing a big hit on high bar, second-place Fred Richard couldn’t find the stuck landing, but found support from the crowd as he celebrated his effort.
While Richard swung on the high bar, Yul Moldauer swung on still rings. A strong event for Yul, he kept his stellar day rolling, sticking his dismount for a 14.405. Through just two events, Yul Moldauer has already improved on his day one total by 1.75.
Over on floor, Wiskus kept energy high with clean, composed tumbling, keeping him in the hunt. Minutes later, renowned tumbler Kameron Nelson drew gasps from the crowd as he landed two-consecutive triple-back tumbling passes. After struggling through his routine on night one, the world floor finalist scored a massive 15.401.
World bronze medalist Patrick Hoopes graced the apparatus in the second rotation, hitting another strong routine to secure his second-straight U.S. title.
After a stellar start, current leader Danila Leykin struggled on floor, falling on two of his tumbling passes. Though Leykin finished strong, the damage would be significant. Fred Richard surged into a sizable lead, with Leykin falling to third place.
After Two: 1. Fred Richard: 113.798, 2. Shane Wiskus: 111.557, 3. Danila Leykin: 110.786. 4. Yul Moldauer: 110.078, 5. Joshua Karnes: 109.258.
Rotation Three:
Holding a two-point lead, Richard simply needed to hit his remaining four events to cruise to the national title. However, on his opening floor exercise pass, Richard almost fell backwards. Using immense leg strength, the reigning NCAA All-Around Champion was able to save the skill with a sizable hop. Not perfect, but good enough to keep his lead.
Now in second-place, Shane Wiskus stayed hot in Phoenix, cruising through his pommel horse effort for another strong score. Though unlikely to challenge Richard for the title, Wiskus remained firmly in contention for the podium.
Next up on pommel horse: Stephen Nedoroscik. Nedoroscik entered Saturday’s meet in second on his signature event, and continues to ease back into competition after incurring multiple injuries.
Though he started strong, Nedoroscik missed his hand on a skill, flying off the apparatus and onto the mat. Smiling and bowing, the two-time Olympian appeared physically and mentally unfazed by the uncharacteristic mistake.
Shortly after Nedoroscik’s error, Leykin mounted the same pommels, hoping to put his floor exercise falls behind him. Showing maturity beyond his years, Leykin glided through his exercise, sticking the dismount to immediate celebration. Floor mistakes or not, he was still in the medal race.
Closing the rotation on his best event, Cooper Kim brought the house down on the high bar. Nailing his pirouettes and sticking his massive dismount, Kim appeared to be moved to near-tears as he left the podium. With that landing, Kim earned a staggering score of 15.568 and became the new U.S. Champion on high bar.
After Three: 1. Fred Richard: 127.947, 2. Danila Leykin: 125.288, 3. Shane Wiskus: 124.957, 4. Cooper Kim: 124.736, 5. Joshua Karnes: 122.921.
Rotation Four:
Opening rotation four on rings, Wiskus only extended his impressive night, fighting through his routine to another stuck dismount and a five-tenth improvement from night one. Minutes later, Kameron Nelson nailed another triple back dismount – this time on rings, to score a huge 15.075.
Dancing and smiling while he waited for his turn, Danila Leykin waited to mount the still rings for himself. The event was Leykin’s weakest on night one, and he could not afford more errors. Fighting through a short handstand, Leykin averted disaster but scored only a 12.500, dropping back into third.
After a technical issue disrupted competition for over ten minutes, high bar star Cooper Kim returned to the floor with ice in his veins. Kim delivered another strong routine, while Olympians Moldauer and Richard saluted the judges for their respective events.
While Richard struggled through his pommel horse routine, Moldauer was exceptional on his trademark event. Moldauer stuck his dismount for a massive score of 15.118, securing gold on the event.
After Four: 1. Fred Richard: 142.610, 2. Shane Wiskus: 139.459, 3. Cooper Kim: 138.536, 4. Yul Moldauer: 137.796, 5. Danila Leykin: 137.788,
Rotation Five:
With only two rotations remaining, every tenth mattered. After a subpar effort on rings, Leykin got back on track on vault, nearly sticking his difficult 2.5-twisting Yurchenko vault. Wiskus added another strong routine of his own, confidently landing his vault for a strong 13.650.
While Wiskus and Leykin needed a miss from Richard to have an outside shot at the title, the Boston native wasn’t giving anything away. Richard cruised through his still rings routine, landing cleanly to maintain his lead heading into the last rotation.
Over on high bar, Yul Moldauer rocketed through his release moves, nailing his full-twisting double layout dismount to an emphatic stick.
After Five: 1. Fred Richard: 156.515, 2. Shane Wiskus: 153.109, 3. Danila Leykin: 151.936, 4. Cooper Kim: 151.436, 5. Yul Moldauer: 150.896
Rotation Six:
Heading into the sixth and final rotation, Richard went to vault, Wiskus and Leykin to parallel bars, Kim to still rings, and Moldauer to floor. While Richard’s U.S. title was all but secured, the battle for silver and bronze was steadily heating up.
Closing his competition in Phoenix on a high note, Danila Leykin delivered a beautiful parallel bars routine to score a 15.063. Needing to simply land the vault on his feet, Fred Richard took off down the runway. Though he took a massive rebound on his landing, Richard did what he needed to become U.S. Champion.
Needing a huge score to claim a spot on the podium, Yul Moldauer finished strong on floor, but lost significant ground after an out-of-bounds error in his final pass. His 2020 Olympic teammate Shane Wiskus closed out a spectacular day in Phoenix on parallel bars, looking to the rafters in relief as soon as he dismounted.
After two days of grueling competition, USA Gymnastics had its top three all-around gymnasts: Richard, Wiskus, and Leykin. Later that evening, the organization intended to name its World Championship team.
