“It would be crazy”: Teddy Riner dreams of a historic hat-trick at the Paris 2024 Olympics

Teddy Riner visera une nouvelle médaille olympique chez lui. MAXPPP – Thierry Larret

the essential Already a three-time Olympic champion, twice in heavyweight (2012, 2016) and once in teams (2021), Teddy Riner is aiming for two new gold medals in Paris to "become even more" the best French sportsman of all time.

In an interview given before the Games, the 35-year-old judoka, also eleven times world champion in the + 100 kg and twice Olympic bronze (2008, 2021), looks back on his immense career, which has changed "the way of seeing the high level" and made "the queen category even more queen&quot ;.

With two new gold medals, individually (August 2) and team (August 3), will you be the best French athlete in history?

It's not my place to say. I know that if we compare the charts and do things factually, yes. It would be a source of pride to be one and to become even more so. Now, I don't put that pressure on myself, I don't put the cart before the horse. There are many things to do before going for a gold medal, even if that is the goal.

What legacy would you like to leave?

The way of training, intelligence in training and hardness. Make certain athletes understand that the method we have been taught from training is a little distorted and wrong. There is no need to be in lousy destinations, there is no need to hurt yourself to perform. We can train correctly, with quality and with peace of mind, without fear of injury, without saying to ourselves that we are not doing enough. Every athlete has a neurotype, each neurotype has a way of training. We can't all train in the same way. When the sports world understands this, there will be even more results.

After having already won everything, what else does victory bring you??

A lot of excitement, an explosion of joy, pride, a lot of things at once. Because in fact, we give ourselves the means to achieve our ambitions, we are all the time in the four corners of the world, it is a lot of sacrifices, a lot of self-denial. And after a while, when we manage to touch the goal we have set for ourselves with our fingertips, then it goes to pot. And in Paris too, that would be crazy. Untenable.

You've fought hundreds of fights, but if you had to pick just one, which one would it be ?

It’s complicated but I think it would be my first world title, in 2007 against (Tamerlan) Tmenov, who at the time was a monument in judo. It’s not forgotten. I beat it, but it was mainly the instructions that I had before going up. I was told that for 2 and a half minutes, I was going to be struck by lightning. And a long time later, I watched the fight, and at 2 minutes 30, I found the solution. It’s wonderful to have had this opportunity to shine in this way and especially against a person like that.

"Tomorrow, whatever project I choose, it’is to be a leader"

Do you think you have, since your beginnings, revolutionized judo ?

No idea. Many tell me that I changed the category (heavyweights), that I changed a lot of things in judo, but here I am, I'm a go-getter. I'm going for it, for the moment, I'm not paying attention to that.

How has this heavyweight category changed ? Your opponents have had to adapt to you…

I think she has become more athletic. And that, yes, it was pointed out to me several times, that it was me who had changed the situation. It’s true that we have become more athletic, it’s another judo. It’s true, I want to say that the queen category has become even queer.

Apart from the tatami mats, you have also professionalized judo, with a whole dedicated staff around you.

Yes, I brought another way of training, another way of seeing the high level, to judo in any case. Surrounding yourself well is very important. Because in judo, without a partner, you can't do anything. I have very good sparring (Frédéric Mirédin).

And above all, I have very good staff who allow me to perform. Without this staff, without the instructions he gives me, without the training program he gives me, it’s complicated. I have my say, but everyone’s professionalism allows me to be better.

You plan to continue until the 2028 Olympics. But in ten years, where do you see yourself ?

At 45? It’s complicated. I see myself on a chair, by the sea, watching my children. They will already be a little bigger.

You sometimes talk about a possible political reconversion.

R : "When I talk about politics, I always say that I want to be president. But it’s a general way for me to tell you, tomorrow, whatever project I choose, it’s to be a leader, it’s to be the best in it. I don't do things to be a spectator. I do things where I am an actor, in charge. And above all, wherever I go, I go there prepared first."