Why Olympic Choreographer Benoît Richaud Went Viral Just for Changing Jackets

Benoît Richaud could to be one of the most visible people at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Not because he is a star athlete, but because he coaches 16 figure skaters from 13 different countries. Every time one of them is on the ice, they stand at the edge of the rink and put on their team’s coat.

Richaud became somewhat famous for this approach. Olympics viewers began to catch on to the French coach’s antics just days after the Games began when they noticed the same thin, bald man sitting next to so many different skaters. He still wore the team jacket he sat in during the ‘kisses and screams’, but his stoic, thoughtful expression remained the same. Soon, its ubiquity went viral.

But, as Richaud told WIRED Italia, he could have been even more present around the ice. He currently coaches 16 Olympians, but that’s just how many have qualified. “I actually coach a lot more,” he says.

Having such a large number of athletes to train is not the easiest thing in the world. However, Richaud gives a natural look. It’s all about planning, he says. Much of his choreographic work must be done after the World Championships, which usually take place in March. Thus, from April to July, he has a “large window” to create new choreographies. From there, he begins working with the skaters he coaches, to take stock of where they are and what they want to do.

Sometimes Richaud’s skaters move towards him, sometimes he moves towards them. If he needs to update the choreography, he can do so via the Internet. “It’s very useful because today, with the telephone and new technologies, we can do a lot more and a lot faster,” he says. “I receive almost all of my skaters’ programs every day, and it helps me understand what I need to improve to make the program more effective.”

Training so many athletes comes with several challenges. We simply remember the choreography and details of each skater’s program. The other goes through the emotional roller coaster of watching so many performances and then waiting for the athletes’ scores.

“It’s difficult,” says Richaud. “Because we experience these waves of very strong emotions. I happened to have very strong ones during these Olympic Games. I had a skater who was third and who then finished off the podium. On the other side, I had another skater, a Canadian, who came here for his first Olympic Games. He had never even skated at the Worlds and he finished fifth, less than a point from the podium.

Coaching so many skaters, it’s hard to imagine Richaud doesn’t have a favorite, but he says he doesn’t. Everyone gets 100 percent, he says, and being sad for one and happy for the other “balances your emotions.”

“There are times when I cry and times when I have so much inner joy that I even have trouble controlling myself,” says Richaud. “You feel these emotional peaks that we all experience, except I experience them very quickly. »

Despite being one of the most sought-after figure skating coaches, the public didn’t know much about Richaud until these Olympics, where his constant coat changes put him in the public eye. Although he says his newfound fame is unexpected, he is grateful for the attention it brings to the sport.

According to Richaud, figure skating is not as popular as it could be on social media. By going viral, he hopes to bring more attention to the sport, which he calls “one of the most beautiful in the world.”

He’s still amazed that his jackets made him a social media sensation. “I saw the first and I thought, “Ah, that’s funny.” Then two, then three, then four,” says Richaud. “Often, they don’t even talk to me, but they come to me because people send them, literally from all over the world. It’s a nice, fun feeling, and I’m happy to skate.