Olympic Stars Stephen Nedoroscik And Fred Richard Left Off World Championship Team
PARIS, FRANCE – JULY 29: Stephen Nedoroscik and Fredrick Richard of the United States react during the medal ceremony on the podium in the Artistic Gymnastics Men’s Team Final on day three of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on July 29, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Steve Christo – Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)
Corbis via Getty Images
Disappointing news for two of USA Gymnastics’ biggest stars. After inconsistent performances at the week’s U.S. Gymnastics Championships, Olympic medalists Stephen Nedoroscik and Frederick Richard were left off the team for the upcoming 2025 World Championships.
Nedoroscik and Richard made headlines during the Paris Olympics, where the two delivered standout performances to lead Team USA to the bronze medal – the first medal for U.S. men’s gymnastics in 16 years.
Over the past few days, the pair competed alongside their U.S. teammates at the 2025 Xfinity U.S. National Gymnastics Championships in New Orleans. Competition concluded Saturday evening, with their Olympic teammate Asher Hong securing his second all-around title.
Due to the superior difficulty values of his skills on vault, Hong clinched an automatic bid to compete at the 2025 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Jakarta, Indonesia. USA Gymnastics officials then selected five additional athletes to accompany Hong in Jakarta this fall.
With the event functioning as an individual World Championships with no team competition, the selection committee focused on individual medal potential on the six apparatuses.
USA Gymnastics formally announced the team on X at 11:48 p.m. ET. Hong would be joined by Olympic teammate Brody Malone, World medalist Donnell Whittenburg, and first-time World team members Kameron Nelson, Brandon Dang and Patty Hoopes.
Concurrently, the two remaining Olympians learned that their World Championship medal hopes for 2025 had been cut short.
What Went Wrong For Nedoroscik
Nedoroscik, who famously competes only on the pommel horse, struggled significantly on his sole event at this week’s championships, downgrading his routine on night one and falling from the horse on night two.
Though the gymnast-turned-celebrity is both a World Champion and Olympic bronze medalist on his signature event, his efforts would not be enough. Needing to finish in the top three to be considered for selection, “the pommel horse guy” accepted his fate, breaking into a laugh as he fell from the apparatus.
He later expressed his excitement to cheer on Team USA in Jakarta, even though it would not be from the competitive floor. Nedoroscik began training for nationals just three months prior to the event.
In recognition of his efforts both on and off the competitive floor this year, USA Gymnastics acknowledged Stephen as 2025 Athlete of the Year.
What Went Wrong For Richard
Conversely, Fred Richard is a world-class all-around gymnast, having qualified for the final in Paris and winning a historic bronze medal at the 2023 World Championships.
Heading into this week’s U.S. championships, Richard expressed his intent to focus on his all-around potential, hoping to peak at the World Championships later this year.
However, struggles inhibited his goal on night one. Richard stumbled through the majority of his landings, tumbling to a distant fourth place – nearly six full points out of first. After “dusting off the cobwebs,” night two would need to be perfect.
Richard looked markedly sharper on the second and final day of competition. While the surging Asher Hong was out of reach, Richard fought his way to the silver medal in the all-around. The world all-around medalist appeared satisfied with his effort – typically, a top-two national finisher would seem like an obvious choice for a World team.
“This week wasn’t going to be my peak week,” Richard said after night two of competition. “This is one step along to Worlds where I peak in two months…and I think I got the job done, which is important.”
However, Hong’s win over Richard was the largest by any gymnast—male or female—in USA Gymnastics history. This deficit, coupled with the individual structure of the World Championships, likely led to an unfavorable result for Richard.
Despite missing the World team, Richard was named to the U.S. National team, therefore making him eligible for international assignments. Like Nedoroscik, Richard was honored with an organization award, acknowledging him as the 2025 Sportsperson of the Year.
