Big Ten Announces 2026 Men’s Gymnastics Awards

ROSEMONT, Ill. – The Big Ten Conference announced its 2026 men’s gymnastics individual award winners on Wednesday. Michigan’s Fred Richard was named Gymnast of the Year, while Ohio State’s Parker Thackston was named Specialist of the Year. Penn State’s Shaun Smith was also named Freshman of the Year after a vote of the league’s head coaches.

This is the second Gymnast of the Year honor for Richard, who also claimed the award in 2024, and the eighth time a Wolverine has won the award, including four honors in the last six years.

Richard, a 2026 Nissen-Emery Award finalist presented to the nation’s most outstanding senior male collegiate gymnast, scored seven event wins on the season, including victories in the on the horizontal and parallel bars, pommel horse, and still rings and in the all-around. The Stoughton, Mass. native will enter this weekend’s Big Ten Championships ranked in the nation’s top 10 on the parallel bars (fourth), high bar (fifth), and still rings (ninth).

Thackston becomes the second gymnast named Big Ten Specialist of the Year. The Nissen-Emery Award finalist was named Collegiate Gymnastics Association (CGA) Specialist of the Week twice this season and earned a Big Ten Specialist of the Week accolade.

Thackston has the nation’s second-highest four-score average (14.433) on pommel horse. The senior from Robbinsville, N.J. is the only gymnast in the country to eclipse 15.000 on any event this season, doing so in claiming pommel horse titles against Michigan and Army/William & Mary.

Smith is the fifth Nittany Lion to claim Freshman of the Year honors and the first since Sam Zakutney in 2017. The Lexington, Ky. native counts a win on the vault in a dual meet against No. 12 Springfield among his 11 top five finishes. During his rookie campaign, Smith scored podium finishes in both the floor exercise and the vault.   

Also on Wednesday, the Big Ten recognized the five men’s gymnastics Sportsmanship Award honorees. The student-athletes chosen are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. These student-athletes must also be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.
 
The 2026 Big Ten Men’s Gymnastics Championships will be held Friday and Saturday at Nebraska’s Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Neb. The meet will begin at 8 p.m. (ET) both nights and will be televised live on the Big Ten Network, as well as streamed live on the FOX Sports app. Additional information will be available on the Championships web site at  bigten.org/MGYMChampionship .
 
The Big Ten Coach of the Year and Gymnast of the Championships awards will be selected by the conference coaches during this weekend’s meet and will be announced, along with the all-conference and all-freshman teams, following the Championships.
 
2026 BIG TEN MEN’S GYMNASTICS INDIVIDUAL AWARDS
Gymnast of the Year: Fred Richard, Michigan
Specialist of the Year: Parker Thackston, Ohio State
Freshman of the Year: Shaun Smith, Penn State
  
BIG TEN SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD HONOREES
Sam Kaplan, Illinois 
Zach Granados, Michigan
Jack Critz, Nebraska
Jesse Pakele, Ohio State
Landon Simpson, Penn State