Frenchman Teddy Riner won the Dushanbe Grand Slam by dominating Tajik Temur Rakhimov in the final, this Sunday, May 5 in Tajikistan. Less than three months before the Paris Olympic Games (July 26 – August 11), the double Olympic heavyweight champion (2012 and 2016) wins his third Grand Slam of the year 2024 after his victories in Paris and Antalya and garners valuable points in the Olympic rankings before the Games.
Published on: 05/05/2024 – 17:25
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Coming to Tajikistan in search of precious points before the big Olympic meeting in Paris, Teddy Riner accomplished his mission brilliantly by winning the final of the Grand Slam in Dushanbe. Seeded number two in the tournament, Riner had a lot to do in the final against Tajik Temur Rakhimov, world number two and seeded number one, who fought in front of his home crowd. Dominant, the Frenchman won by ippon, as in his three previous fights of the day.
Riner was back on the tatamis five weeks after his victory in Antalya in Turkey where, despite his success, he had expressed a certain weariness. The 35-year-old Guadeloupean, who is aiming for a third Olympic heavyweight title in Paris after those of 2012 and 2016, then said to himself: fatigue » et « without desire ».
In Tajikistan, he in any case did not let the suspense drag on, starting his day without difficulty against the Turk Munir Ertug, 32nd in the world, who lost after one minute and 27 seconds of combat. In the quarter-final, the German Losseni Kone also did not last long, giving in after two minutes.
Opposed to the Russian Denis Batchaev in the semi-final, Riner advanced against the 129th in the world who had created a surprise by dominating the Finn Martti Puumalainen, reigning European champion, by ippon in the round of 16. But a new ippon allowed the Frenchman to win after two minutes and 30 seconds of fighting.
Riner remains undefeated since Tokyo
This victory in Dushanbe allows Teddy Riner to pocket his third Grand Slam of the year 2024 in as many participations, after his victories in Paris in February and Antalya at the end of March. This tournament in Tajikistan could also be his last before the Paris Olympics, which begin on July 26, unless he finally decides to participate in the World Championships in Abu Dhabi at the end of May.
Riner gained 1000 additional points thanks to his success in Tajikistan and should therefore make a jump in the Olympic ranking by climbing from 9th to 2nd place, 1400 points behind Russian leader Inal Tasoev. He could thus hope to set foot on the tatamis of the Arena Champ-de-Mars as top seed. This valuable status normally allows you to avoid a preliminary round and have a clearer picture until the quarter-finals.
Undefeated since his defeat against Russian Tamerlan Bashaev in the quarter-final of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Riner has since won the Grand Slams in Budapest in 2022, Paris in 2023 and 2024 and therefore Antalya and Dushanbe. Without forgetting the world title, the eleventh of his career, won in Doha a year ago. In any case, the Frenchman seems on track to approach the Paris Games with full confidence.
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