Three-time Olympic judo champion announces bid for French presidency

Three-time Olympic judo champion Teddy Riner is to run for the French presidency, with his campaign intending to “show that we can turn France around”.

The 37-year-old said he would not run on a left- or right-wing ticket but instead focus his campaign on “bringing the French people together”, with the slogan for his campaign “The France we want”.

He told French outlet Le Parisien on Monday: “France is a great country. It has allowed me to become the person I am today and has given me the opportunity to dream big.

“Today, that’s what’s missing. That ambition is gone; that hope is gone.

“I see a divide in society across the country, but I do not accept what I hear in the mouths of young people, that it is difficult today to imagine a future. That is why I decided to commit myself, alongside the French people, and to become a candidate for the presidency.”

Riner has no experience of politics but is a well-known and popular figure in France, and has previously hinted at a desire to enter politics at the highest level. He said in an interview last year: “I am a citizen above all, not just a sportsperson. If tomorrow I enter politics, it wouldn’t be to be a minister, it would be to change things. The best role would be president.”

Riner, who was born in Guadeloupe, grew up in Paris. He is a nine-time heavyweight world champion, two-time openweight world champion, and has two Olympic bronze medals to go with his three individual golds and two mixed team gold medals.

He was a torchbearer during the Olympic torch relay ahead of the 2024 Games in Paris, and lit the cauldron during the opening ceremony alongside retired sprinter Marie-Jose Perec.

Riner said that the experience of the home Olympic Games uniting the country inspired him to enter politics, saying: “I saw a whole country come together, proud, happy. I thought to myself, what we have been able to do for 15 days, we must be able to do for the country.”

He said his decision to run for president would not end his judo career or hopes of competing at the LA Games 2028.