For his return to competition, the triple Olympic champion Teddy Riner triumphed on the mats of the Accor Arena in Paris on Sunday. The 33-year-old Guadeloupean won the gold medal in penalties against the Japanese Hyoga Ota in the +100 kg category. The winner of the Tokyo Grand Slam in early December 2022 resisted but gave in after 3 minutes of fighting.
After winning two rather quick wins by ippon for his entry into the tournament, Teddy Riner was pushed to the golden score by Azeri Dzhamal Gamzatkhanov in the quarter-finals before defeating Uzbek Alisher Yusupov on penalties. The French therefore concluded his tournament with a success of the same kind as in the semi-finals against Ota in a room in fusion.
Lucie Décosse’s record equaled
For his first confrontation against Ota, Japanese with a small size and very lively, Riner settled down by putting his hand on the back of the Japanese man’s neck. Quickly penalized, Ota was never able to worry the tenfold world champion.
Just over a year from the Paris Olympics, Teddy Riner has gleaned a seventh success in the prestigious tournament in the capital. He thus equals Lucie Décosse on the list of victories at the Paris Grand Slam. The last time the French judoka won on the Accor Arena tatami was in 2013. Ten years later, Riner is back in the best of ways.
