\u201cEverybody says you haven\u2019t won U.S. Championships yet,\u201d Richard said before the meet. \u201cMy coaches (at the University of Michigan) say, \u2018You haven\u2019t won a U.S. Championships,\u2019 and so I think it\u2019s a big piece of the puzzle.\u201d<\/p>\n
Richard leads despite taking six tenths of deductions outside of his routines: three tenths for wearing a uniform that doesn\u2019t conform to rules (an intentional move he also made last year<\/a>) and three tenths for saluting the wrong way after his pommel horse set.<\/p>\n Richard said he isn\u2019t hung up on the pommel horse salute deduction. <\/p>\n He was asked if he\u2019d do something similar to what Simone Biles did at the Paris Olympics. She was docked three tenths for not saluting long enough after her balance beam final routine, then did a long salute after her floor exercise final routine.<\/p>\n \u201cI can exaggerate it, I guess, but I don\u2019t want to be rude,\u201d Richard said. \u201cI mean, it is what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n Richard said that if he loses the all-around title by fewer than six tenths \u2014 the total amount of deductions he\u2019ll receive for the uniform over the two days \u2014 it\u2019ll still be worth it.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s more than just the medal at the end of the day,\u201d he said. \u201cI come here to do great gymnastics, and if I don\u2019t win, that\u2019s a result of my gymnastics, I believe, more than those three tenths. Two, I have fun in this uniform. There\u2019s a lot of boys sitting in the crowd, seeing what I\u2019m doing and getting inspired, and I think things that we\u2019re passionate about changing, we should change, and that\u2019s why I keep doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n Leykin, who was 10th in his senior nationals debut in 2025, leads a younger generation on the rise as the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics approach. He won three medals at the 2025 World Junior Championships.<\/p>\n \u201cI knew if I had a good day that it was possible,\u201d to be in the top three, he said. \u201cI wasn\u2019t necessarily going into it with big hopes of yeah, I\u2019m going for this all-around.\u201d<\/p>\n Nationals continue Friday with the first of two days of women\u2019s competition, live at 10 p.m. ET on Peacock<\/a> and NBCSN.<\/p>\n
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