This will happen when he wears a Mexican top for Carrillo, then immediately switches to that of the Japanese Kao Miura. He will later step out to remove an outfit supporting Georgian skater Nika Egadze before donning the red, white and blue for Naumov.
Richaud says it’s worth it to highlight his skater’s country.
“I know some coaches want to wear normal clothes. But I think the Olympic Games are a special time where you also have to cherish people’s differences,” he said. “I think it’s something beautiful. Every country has different cultures. When I’m on screen, I want to promote that.”
But even though he seems to be the most popular man in sports today, it wasn’t long ago that he couldn’t find any customers.
A former competitive figure skater from Lyon, France, Richaud has never placed higher than seventh at the World Junior Championships. He turned to coaching in 2013 and said he only had one 25-minute session during his entire first week, and that “it was like that for the first four weeks on the job.”
Benoit Richaud performs alongside Frenchman Terra Findlay in Helsinki in 2009. Yuri Kadobnov / AFP via Getty Images fileRichaud slowly began adding clients, but they were far from the Olympians he works with today.
“I didn’t start with high-level skaters because I was nobody,” he said. “My first job was literally working with 70-year-old people. I started with a grandmother. I was teaching old people to skate.”
He eventually started working with Deniss Vasiļjevs, one of Latvia’s top skaters, at the junior level and through word of mouth and success his popularity grew. Over the past decade, he has become one of the world’s most in-demand choreographers.
Richaud attributes his rapid trajectory to a state of mind that he doesn’t believe others have.
“I’m not afraid. I’m not afraid at all,” he said. “That means I do what I want and I never try to please the judges or the people. If we want to make a crazy idea happen, we do it. I always find a way to make things happen.
“One of my great powers is that I do things very differently, and it’s all about fear. I want to move our sport forward and change the styles, change the way people think and see figure skating.”
Richaud coaches Bradie Tennell at the 2025 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Canada.International Skating Union via Getty ImagesBy “people,” Richaud means non-figure skating fans like his father. He said he focused on making his routines more exciting and appealing to those close to him.
“I lost my dad and I always think about making him fall in love with skating,” he said. “No one cares about skating where I live and I always think about those people. »
Richaud has five skaters who aspire to a medal Friday night, including Naumov. The 24-year-old from Connecticut lost his parents in a plane crash outside of Washington, DC, last year and almost stopped skating altogether.
He is now participating in the men’s singles final of the Olympic Games.
Richaud joins Team USA’s Maxim Naumov in the “kiss and cry” zone after competing in the men’s singles at the Milan Games on Tuesday.Matthieu Stockman / Getty ImagesRichaud called Naumov’s perseverance “incredible.”
“He wanted to leave the sport and now he is realizing his dream, which was also his parents’ dream,” he said. “There’s something very unique about him. And to know that he fought so hard and to be able to achieve that, I think it’s just pure respect.”
Richaud will speak with Naumov immediately before and after his performance and provide emotional support in the “kiss and cry” zone when his score is announced.
Then he will return to the bowels of the arena. He needs a new jacket.
Greg Rosenstein is the sports editor for NBC News Digital.
