In his search for a fabulous Olympic hat-trick among heavyweights, Teddy Riner He left his mark again by winning the Antalya Grand Slam, gaining an advantage over the Japanese Tatsuru Saito, defeated in the last four months before their great Paris meeting. Not necessarily spectacular but always methodical, Riner suffered in the final, was penalized twice, but ended up adding a point (waza-ari) to win in regulation time. In five fights, he hasn’t gone to overtime.
If he faces the Japanese again at the Olympic Games, for example in the final, Riner will inevitably arrive with a psychological advantage. He now leads 2-0 against Saito after dominating him in the quarter-finals in Doha last year, before snatching his 11th world crown. The 34-year-old Guadeloupean returned to the competition after his record eighth crowning at the Grand Slam in Paris at the beginning of February, for a new stage of preparation towards the Olympic goal on August 2 at the Champ-de-Mars Arena.
After the fervor of Bercy, filled in February with thousands of spectators conquered by its champion, it was almost in the indifference of the local public that it continued its march forward. Since his defeat against Russian Tamerlan Bashaev in the quarterfinals of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Riner has not lost: he won the Budapest Grand Slams in 2022, Paris in 2023 and 2024 and, therefore, Antalya. Without forgetting his world title.
On the shores of the Mediterranean, he began by destroying the Bahraini Azamat Chotchaev in 52 seconds. Spectacular. The rest of his day was more tactical. A week shy of his 35th birthday, Riner took advantage of his aura against opponents who were always impressed, sometimes paralyzed by his incomparable stature and record. The 27-year-old Dutchman Jur Spijkers, the 36-year-old Brazilian Rafael Silva, another vestige of the “Riner generation”, and then the young German Erik Abramov suffered their law in quick succession, defeated by disqualification after three penalties (hansoku do). .
In the half against Abramov, 24 years old, who still does not have a record at the highest level but who had just defeated the Finnish Martti Puumalainen, European champion in 2023, Riner knocked down his opponent, scoring a point (waza-ari), before to manage your progress. . In a room much less crowded than the neighboring beaches of the Turkish Riviera, Riner had come to “win, of course”, as his coach Franck Chambily explained to AFP this week, but above all to “see where he is in his preparation.” “.
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Under the gaze of his family, recharging his batteries between fights and with his daughter in his arms in the warm-up room, Riner also added valuable points in Turkey’s Olympic qualification. He temporarily rises among the eight seeds, a situation that normally allows him to avoid a preliminary round at the Olympic Games and have a clearer draw in the first bouts.
After some practices scheduled in Japan from April 21 to May 4, Riner does not stop at one last test, at the Grand Slam in Kazakhstan (from May 10 to 12) or at the Abu Dhabi World Championship (from May 19 to 24). . ). Meanwhile, all the lights are green for the tricolor giant.
2024-03-31 19:56:09
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