Olympic medalist and Stoughton native Frederick “Flips” Richard just broke a Guinness World Record to add to his list of accolades. Richard took home a bronze medal in the 2024 Paris Olympics, so he’s no stranger to hard work. At 21, he’s already made his mark, but to break the record, he took on “one of the hardest challenges of [his] life.” In a livestream Friday, Richard pushed himself to his limit to beat the world record for the most backflips in 24 hours. Not only did he shatter the previous record — 1,001 backflips — but he did it for a good cause. With the help of his sister Alexandra, Richard turned the event into a fundraiser to provide professional gymnastics equipment for underprivileged children in Africa. Their GoFundMe page raised $2,500 in the first three days and has now raised more than $42,000. “Right now, many of these talented young athletes train on makeshift setups like tires and other unsafe surfaces,” Alexandra wrote on the page. “With your help, we can change that and give them the resources they need to reach their full potential.” The fundraiser was organized as part of the FrederickFlips Foundation in partnership with the Dominican Health and Education Initiative. Confetti fell from the ceiling at Premier Gymnastics in Stoughton as Richard hit major milestones in his mission to beat the record. In an Instagram Reel, Richard celebrated hitting 900 flips after 15 hours of flipping. Beyond the good cause and the glory of the record, achieving his goal carried plenty of personal weight. With only two flips to go from the record, Richard got emotional and thanked Alexandra for her commitment to his dream, even while she was pregnant. He explained that as he pushed himself through the challenge, he also became an uncle. View this post on Instagram “Breaking it before midnight, so that way I can say I broke the record on the day that my nephew was born,” Richard said in an Instagram Reel. “His name’s Amir. I’m definitely going to the hospital after this to see him, but let’s do this.” But Richard didn’t just break the record; he went a step further and brought the new record up to 1,111 backflips. After the challenge, Richard celebrated his two big wins: breaking the record and becoming an uncle. “Backflip World Record Holder and Uncle Frederickflips,” he wrote on Instagram. View this post on Instagram