Frederick Richard set a world record on Friday, though it was not part of a gymnastics competition. The University of Michigan gymnast and Olympic medalist performed 1,111 backflips to set the Guinness world record for most in a 24-hour period. The previous record was 1,001. Leading up the attempt, Richard spoke not about trying to break the record but about how he would in fact do it. His confidence was warranted. It took him a little more than 15 hours to set the record. He kept going for another hour or so, past midnight. On top of that, Richard has raised more than $37,000 send gymnastics equipment to underprivileged kids in Africa. Every flip was part of a live stream broadcast on Richards’ YouTube channel, where his handle is, appropriately, “Frederick Flips.” Shortly after breaking the record, Richard asked, “The question is how will I feel in the morning?” Richard just wrapped his junior year at Michigan, where he won the all-around title to help Michigan win the national championship on April 19. He won a bronze medal with the United States team at last summer’s Olympics. With plans to continue competing, this was a small window where he felt he could do this marathon event and still have time to recover. Setting up on a small mat inside the Premier Gymnastics facility in Stoughton, Massachusetts — where he began his career as a youngster — Richard did his first backflip around 8:30 a.m. ET. Guinness defines a backflip “as a 360-degree vertical rotation of the body that must be made backward without the hands touching the ground. (The person) must begin standing on their feet and end standing on their feet.”. Nico Scheicher performed 1,001 during a 24-hour period in his native Austria in 2019. He achieved the record in under nine hours. Richard was certain he could “put some distance” between him and Scheicher. Late Friday night, Richard gave a speech before tying the record, talking through tears as he noted that his sister, who organized the event, gave birth to a boy earlier in the day. Richard was determined to break the record on his new nephew’s birthday. He did just that around 11:50 p.m. At that point he set a goal of getting to 1,111 — and did about an hour later. A comedian served as host throughout the event, often reading comments viewers posted online. Richard ate snacks at various times but didn’t sit often. Local youth gymnasts performed for him and artists came through to paint, among the other special guests.