Stoughton Olympian attempting to break 24-hour backflip world record

An Olympic gymnast from Stoughton wants to back flip his way into the history books.

“I am going to do over 1,000 backflips in the next 24 hours to hold the world record for most backflips in 24 hours,” said Frederick Richard.

Richard won bronze at the 2024 Paris Olympics as a member of team U.S.A.

He says he’s taking on this challenge to raise money to buy gym equipment for children in Africa.

“Kids that don’t have the opportunity or privilege that I have had to get to the Olympic level,” said Richard. “Today is a fun day, a crazy day, but it is all for a good cause.”

Just like training for the Olympics, a lot of preparation went into getting ready for breaking the 24-hour backflip world record.

“I’ve done a lot of backflips,” said Richard. “I’ve probably done about 1000 combined, but now I have to do 1000 today. The most I did in one day was 500, but, I’m going to have to do over 1000 today to break the record, and I want this to be a successful day, raising this money for these kids.”

Richard’s mother says she is proud of what her son is doing in order to help others and is looking forward to the next chapter of his career, preparing for the 2028 summer games.

“he has a lot ahead of him. training for the 2028 Olympics,” said Ann-Marie Richard, Frederick’s mother. “We have worlds in October so his career continues while he is doing these great causes, he has to keep training for gymnastics which is his passion.”

When this record-breaking attempt gets challenging, Richard says one thing is on his mind to get him through.

“The love of flipping, the sport, pushing your limits,” said Richard. “Seeing how far you can go and now I am at this level where I can make big impacts, big changes. I don’t want to stop now, I’m just starting.”