Teddy Riner’s Road to Paris 2024: A Look at His Return to Competition

“Teddy, we expect him at the Olympics, we don’t expect him at these tournaments. » Faith from Franck Chambily, the faithful trainer of Teddy Riner (soon to be 35 years old) who returns to competition this Sunday in Turkey. If Paris 2024 is his only goal, the Guadeloupean is not the type to show up for an event so as not to seek victory.

Two months after his eighth coronation at the Grand Slam in Paris, on February 4, it will be the same this Sunday. “The objective is performance,” recalls Chambily. Before targeting specific expectations: “See the development from Paris. We want liveliness, mobility but also hide certain things to be able to surprise. » From Bercy, Riner resumed his internships between Paris, the Czech Republic and Marrakech (Morocco).

The objective is also to collect points to secure a place in the top 8 and avoid a heavy draw until the quarter-finals at the Olympics. In 2021 in Tokyo, Riner was not seeded, a first since his baptism in 2008 (3rd in +100 kg). He faced the Russian Tamerlan Bachaev who beat him in the quarter-finals (Riner finished 3rd).

Objective: seeded at the Games

“It’s still more comfortable to be seeded. If he wins on Sunday, it would take him directly into the top four,” his coach calculated.

Still, it’s not a foregone conclusion. In the final, the Frenchman (8th in the ranking) could find Tatsuru Saïto, the Japanese whom he ended up dominating in the quarters of the 2023 World Championships.

And for the future, what about competitions between now and Paris 2024? “We will take stock of the situation after Antalya but we are not denying ourselves anything,” insists Chambily. He is not saying no to the Worlds in Abu Dhabi (May 19-24) or the Kazakh Grand Slam (May 10-12): “We are doing one last internship in Japan from April 21 to May 4, we will have time when we come back from see where Teddy is located and the option we will take. »

2024-03-31 06:35:43
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