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This 19-year-old Olympic hopeful's biggest splurges include $70 DoorDash orders and $100 tips

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Frederick Richard of the United States celebrates his bronze medal victory in the Men's All-Around Final at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships-Antwerp 2023 at the Antwerp Sportpaleis on October 5th, 2023 in Antwerp, Belgium.
Tim Clayton - Corbis | Corbis Sport | Getty Images

Olympic hopefuls, they're just like us — overpaying for food delivery and wondering how it all adds up.

Fred Richard, 19, is the 2023 World all-around bronze medalist and will represent Team USA as a gymnast at the Paris Olympics next summer.

Unsurprisingly, the accomplished athlete and University of Michigan sophomore says he spends most of his money on food.

"One thing I splurge on? Definitely DoorDash," Richard tells CNBC Make It. But the convenience adds up, he says: "I'm seeing $70 meals for like a salad sometimes, and I'm like, I don't know how this got to $70. But at least it's healthy. So I'm investing my body."

Still, "I don't know how it's getting to be that expensive. It's crazy."

As for meals that are both convenient and healthy, Richard says his go-to places around campus are Sweetgreen, Chipotle, Tropical Smoothie and Panera.

Another place he's willing to splurge is tipping on great service.

His standard is 20% or more, though every now and then he'll go even higher. "When I just feel like giving back, I'll give them 50 bucks or 100 bucks," he says. "It's the nicest thing possible."

The gesture has paid off before. Richard remembers once being in an Uber when he lost phone network connection partway through the ride and couldn't leave a tip through the app. He only had a $100 bill on him and, rather than leave without tipping, gave it to the driver.

After the scramble, he left his phone in the car.

As Richard recalls, "two hours later, he drove to where I was and found me." The athlete thinks the driver remembered him because of his generous tip, "and I got my phone back. So tip your Uber as well. And if you lose your phone, you're gonna get it back."

Watch the Paris Olympics next summer on NBC and Peacock.

Disclosure: CNBC parent NBCUniversal owns NBC Sports and NBC Olympics. NBC Olympics is the U.S. broadcast rights holder to all Summer and Winter Games through 2032.

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