The stage for a historic moment in men's gymnastics was first set a year ago at the world championships.
With the adrenaline of the U.S. team's bronze medal finish still fresh in his veins, Michigan's Paul Juda turned to his Wolverines teammate, Frederick Richard, and suggested they set an even bolder goal.
"Dude," Juda said, "let's make the Olympics together."
It's challenging enough for a single athlete from a single college team to make an Olympic team. But Juda and Richard approach much of their gymnastics success as symbiotic — pushing each other to continually improve through their work ethic and competitive success. And on Monday night in Paris, that camaraderie pushed them to a finish that won't soon be forgotten.
With Richard posting team-high scores in the floor exercise, parallel bars and horizontal bar, and Juda contributing a stellar vault and a strong overall performance, the Wolverines teammates helped the U.S. snap its 16-year medal drought at the Paris Olympics and stood together on the podium with their bronze medals, waving the American flag.
"The crowd chanting USA is invigorating, and you can't ask for a better feeling than that," Juda said with a glowing smile as he thought about the passionate roars from the American fans that signaled to the team that they were on the path to the podium. "We ended the drought — 16 years in the making — and I can't be happier for everybody."
This was just the latest — although certainly the greatest — success the two have enjoyed together, which they said is owed to their strong relationship that continually pushes them to succeed.
Juda was already on track for a memorable career before Richard joined the team. He tied Sam Mikulak's modern-era school record with six All-America honors during his third season in 2022, winning NCAA titles in vault and all-around and adding to his two All-America performances from a year earlier.
Juda's remarkable performance on the vault and overall consistency were crucial in Team USA's success. (Photo by Hannah Peters / Getty Images)
The following year, Juda received the Collegiate Gymnastics Association's highest honor — the Nissen-Emery Award, which honors men's gymnasts not only for their outstanding records of achievement during their college careers, but also for demonstrating good sportsmanship, fair play and a high standard of athletic excellence.
But the 2023 season also came with a challenge: Juda did not compete that season because of an injury.
That same year, Richard arrived on campus and started his own remarkable run of success. As a freshman, Richard won NCAA titles in high bar, parallel bars and all-around while earning a spot on Team USA for the upcoming world championships. And as his career took off, Richard pushed Juda to return from his injury even stronger. When Juda spotted Richard putting in extra hours in the gym or using a particular warmup routine, it motivated Juda to match his young teammate. And in return, Juda offered his experience to help Richard improve.
In the process, they formed a tightly connected and successful tandem: Juda reached the vault and high bar finals at the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, while Richard earned a bronze medal in all-around to help the U.S. to its bronze medal finish. That success carried over to this spring: Juda finished his Michigan career with an NCAA floor exercise championship, while he and Richard each earned three All-America honors.
"He doesn't realize how much he pushes me," Richard said. "Paul has the best form I've ever seen. He's very consistent. He's a master perfectionist. And that pushes me to get my weaknesses stronger. And I think we make each other way better as teammates."
And when the biggest moment of their careers arrived Monday, they each saved their best for the brightest lights. After posting Team USA's two highest all-around scores Saturday to help the squad qualify for the final, Richard and Juda surpassed those scores in every discipline in the team final — and often provided each other with their most vocal cheering section.
After Juda posted a sensational 14.666 on the vault, he immediately pumped his fists, neck muscles swelling as he screamed victoriously, then ran to the sideline where Richard was the first to meet and hug him ceremoniously.
Richard recorded team-high scores in the floor exercise, parallel bars and horizontal bar, playing a vital role in securing the bronze medal for Team USA. (Photo by Naomi Baker / Getty Images)
And as Richard performed his horizontal bar routine — one with a significantly increased difficulty over Saturday's routine — each near-perfect twist, turn and flip was punctuated by Juda and teammate Asher Hong (Stanford) hopping, screaming and pumping their fists to cheer Richard on until he stuck his dismount and the teammates were allowed to celebrate the 14.833 score together jubilantly.
"This is the routine I train every day in the gym," Richard said. "This is the routine I train knowing, if we need more, this is what I'll do. And I trained this event even harder than ever because I knew high bar is an event we can get ahead in, and I wanted to be ready."
When the final scores were revealed and the United States' bronze medal was official, Juda gripped an American flag while hugging Richard tightly as chants of "U-S-A, U-S-A" echoing throughout Bercy Arena.
With the bronze medal draped from his neck, Richard recalled the posters of the 2004 U.S. silver medal-winning U.S. men's gymnastics team and the bronze medalists from 2008 that hung from his wall growing up.
"When you look at these guys, you're like, 'Wow,'" Richard said. "When I look at their routines, they look amazing. They look like they all came together on these days and did these perfect routines. And I was like, 'Wow, how is that possible? How do they all come together on one day and just do amazing?'"
Moments later, Juda spoke about the impact he hoped this team's perfect, amazing day would have on his sport. He wanted to make a point about the value of men's gymnastics and the need to invest in it at the collegiate level.
This moment, he hoped, would inspire a new generation of gymnasts.
"There's one thing that I know, is that young gymnasts from all around the world," he said, then paused to turn to his friend. "Fred, we're those guys now. They're going to be hanging our posters up."
