The 34-year-old Guadeloupe was once again crowned world champion over 100 kg in Doha (Qatar) on Saturday. An eleventh title gleaned six years after his last victory at the Worlds.
An eleventh world title, no other judoka has ever achieved such a performance. Six years after his last participation in the world championships and his last world title, Teddy Riner regained his crown of king, in Doha (Qatar), Saturday May 13, winning against Russian Inal Tasoev in the +100kg category. His last world title dates back to 2017 when he won the final of the Worlds in all categories in Marrakech (Morocco).
Fourteen months before the Paris Games, this eleventh title bodes well for the ultimate goal of his career: winning a third Olympic gold medal. A look back at the six years that separated the last two world titles for the most successful judoka on the international scene.
2018: the year of the break
More than ten years after his first coronation in 2007, Teddy Riner steps back from the tatami mats for the first time in his career, after the Worlds in September 2017. After so many years at the highest world level, in such a traumatic sport than judo, his body is damaged and tired. He then takes advantage of this break to recharge his batteries both physically and mentally. But his goal has not changed: he wants to go for another Olympic gold medal in Tokyo.
2019: the winning return after twenty months of absence
More than a year after his withdrawal, the judoka puts on the kimono. But the task looks tough. He must indeed lose a good twenty kilos (he was 166 kilos at this moment, while his ideal weight is around 140 kilos) to regain his physical shape. But the return turns out to be a winner. He won the Grand Prix of Montreal (Canada), on July 7, 2019, which allowed him to maintain his invincibility, which had lasted for ten years.
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A few months later, during the Brasilia tournament (Brazil), he took part in his longest fight in ten years against Kokoro Kageura. “A real alert”, will entrust his trainer Laurent Calleja, in the documentary produced by France Télévisions in 2021, Teddy Riner, the quest.
2020: two defeats then a major turning point
While Riner is still undefeated at the start of 2020, Brasilia’s alert is confirmed five months later. During the Paris Masters in February, the double Olympic champion lost for the first time in ten years after a series of 154 consecutive victories. “I was not well, I was not ready”, he admits in this same documentary. This defeat will be an important element in his preparation for the Tokyo Olympics. But the Covid-19 pandemic is spreading around the globe, and confinements are increasing. The one-year postponement of the Tokyo Olympics does not alter the Frenchman’s determination.
After a second defeat in a row, this time in Brest (Finistère) during the French team championships in October 2020, he opted for a new sports organization. A risky bet nine months before the Tokyo Games. “I asked myself the real questions, and when I came back from this long retirement, I said it was going to be like that, like that and like that if I want to be an Olympic champion. If you can follow me, fine, if you can’t, then I change.” then explains the judoka.
He changed physical trainers and sparring partners, reduced the time devoted to the media and began a new working method, based on neurological activation. This one, carried out before each workout, is a series of exercises which aims in particular to work on the concentration and the precision of the gestures.
2021: the Olympic adventure in halftone
2021 is the year of the Olympics. But in February, five months from the deadline, Teddy Riner injured his knee during a technical course in Morocco. The assessment is severe: the posterior cruciate ligament is torn. After two months off for complete healing, he resumed his Olympic preparation while continuing serious rehabilitation. Back on their feet, but not back in top form, the Habs missed the march to gold but left despite everything with an individual bronze medal and an Olympic team title in their suitcases.
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If he fails to match the feat of the Japanese Tadahiro Nomura, the only triple Olympic judoka champion in history in -60 kg, (1996, 2000 and 2004), he nevertheless becomes the most decorated judoka in history. for men, with a fourth individual medal in as many Olympic Games. Three months later, Teddy Riner gets back on the tatami for the first time since the Olympics, and wins bronze at the French team championships.
2022: a mixed year between victory and injury
In July 2022, the Frenchman made his return to individual competition, this time at the Grand Slam in Budapest (Hungary), a year after the Tokyo Games. A winning return since he won his final in less than a minute of combat. Coming to gauge himself in view of the Paris 2024 Games, Teddy Riner, who is aiming for a third Olympic title, reassures and garners confidence.
But his body is tired and shows the weight of years. In September, while suffering from ankle pain since training in Rabat (Morocco) at the end of August, Teddy Riner decides to give up his participation in the world championships, in order not to “take no risk” two years from the Paris Olympics.
2023: back on top of the world
The injuries are now behind him. In February, Teddy Riner won a seventh victory in the Paris Grand Slam, on February 5, beating the Japanese Hyoga Ota in the final. If he has not yet found his optimal form, the Frenchman proves that he is still the boss on the tatami. For his return to the Worlds after six years of absence, Teddy Riner applies the same price, with an eleventh world title.
If the first round was a formality, the next two were more delicate, especially against the reigning vice-world champion, Tatsuru Saito. Pointing before the competition in 18th place in the world, the Frenchman found the heights on Saturday. Enough to trigger a good dynamic with a view to Paris 2024.
