Fred Richard leads U.S. men’s gymnastics Olympic trials after Day 1; Shane Wiskus is third

Fred Richard entered the first night of the United States men’s gymnastics Olympic trials with flair, backflipping as he was introduced to the Target Center crowd, then landing on his side and striking a reclining pose.

He finished Thursday with a bang, too. He had the night’s highest scores on the high bar and the floor exercise in his last two rotations, and those results vaulted him to the top of the men’s all-around standings with a score of 85.600 heading into the final night of the trials on Saturday.

After the first of two passes through six different events, the 20-gymnast field is halfway to figuring out which five American male gymnasts will head to the Paris Olympics in late July.

The 20-year-old Richard currently competes for the University of Michigan and represents a trials field full of current or recently graduated collegiate gymnasts. The U.S. team that won bronze at the World Championships in 2023 — including Richard — had four members 22 years old or younger.

But veteran gymnasts also made moves Thursday night. University of Minnesota alum and Tokyo Olympian Shane Wiskus of Spring Park was third with 84.300 points, behind his fellow Tokyo Olympian Brody Malone at 85.100.

Malone, 24, won his third U.S. all-around championship earlier this month, beating Richard by more than two points. Malone, a Stanford alum, is coming back from a severe leg injury sustained in March 2023 that some thought would be career-ending.

“I’m one of the older guys out here, got a little bit more experience, but it’s still another competition,” Malone said. “I approach all my competitions the same. I go in, try to do my gymnastics, my job. Don’t worry about the scores and just control the controllables.”

Wiskus, 25, got the final introduction of the night to a swell of support from the home-state crowd. An appropriate soundtrack of “My House” played as Wiskus competed in the high bar. After he finished the third highest-­scoring floor routine (14.350), Wiskus pumped up the crowd, cupping a hand to his ear. The crowd answered. When he completed his rings routine, his final event of the night, he walked off the stage pumping his fist and shouting, “Let’s go!”

“I allowed myself to have some fun considering what could potentially be the last meet of my career,” said Wiskus, who has alluded to retiring after this season. “I want to just do the things that I don’t normally do that I wish I would do, and just really enjoy it.”

Richard’s University of Michigan teammate Paul Juda is in fourth (84.150), with Asher Hong of Stanford and Stanford alum Yul Moldaeur behind him at 83.700.

After finishing third behind Richard and Malone at this month’s national championships and winning three medals at last year’s world championships, 21-year-old Khoi Young of Stanford struggled Thursday and finished in 12th place.

The men will compete again on Saturday afternoon. Those scores will be combined with those from Thursday, and a selection committee will choose a five-man Olympic team, with alternates, for the Paris Games. The committee will use a mathematical formula to consider gymnasts’ performances at U.S. championships and Olympic trials, and the highest potential scores in team, all-around and individual events.