France’s judo icon Teddy Riner wants to unexpectedly run for president next year. The five-time Olympic champion announced this decision on Monday in a video that he published on his social networks. The elections will take place in April 2027, and France will then vote on the successor to Emmanuel Macron, who will no longer be able to run after two terms in office.
“My name is Teddy Riner, and today I’m telling you face to face: I’m running in the 2027 presidential election,” the 37-year-old said in the video: “I know what people will say about me: ‘He’s crazy. He’s never done politics.’ If not putting my head down and accepting the chaos makes me a crazy person, then yes, I am completely crazy.”
But he believes in his chance, despite many opposing candidates. “The only risk I see today is to resign ourselves to choosing between two options, namely the extremes,” said Riner, referring to the right-wing populist Rassemblement National party, for which Marine Le Pen is currently leading in the polls, and the left-wing La France insoumise of Jean-Luc Mélenchon. Riner states that he does not feel like he belongs to the left or right camp and that he is not addressing a specific electorate, but “to all French people, to the young, to the non-voters, to everyone who wants to dream big.” Recently, however, he publicly expressed his explicit concern about the “rise of the radical right” in France.
Riner wants to start in LA in 2028, “if the office allows me and if the French allow me”
Riner, who was born in the French overseas department of Guadeloupe, is still active as a judoka. In an interview with the newspaper, also published on Monday The Parisian He added that he wants to continue his sporting career and even take part in the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, “if the office allows me and if the French allow me.”
He is the first judoka to become Olympic heavyweight champion three times since the 2024 Games in Paris, and he won Olympic gold twice with the team. Riner also won a total of eleven world titles. During his career he was named France’s Sportsman of the Year three times.
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“I have decided to get involved alongside the French,” he said in an interview The Parisian. “I’m not just a judoka.” He doesn’t want to be reduced to the status of a champion or athlete who should be content with climbing onto the winner’s podium and having nothing to say about everything else. The events this fall motivated him to run for office, “the anger, the concern and the feeling that no one was addressing it.” Social protests have been taking place in France for weeks, with the young generation in particular taking to the streets.
When asked whether the judoka was prepared for the tough election campaign that was now coming up, the more than two meter tall Riner replied: “Taking punches is, you know, my job.” He’s not afraid of that. And those who can take blows also know how to deal them.
In principle, all adults with French citizenship can run in the presidential election if they have fulfilled their civil or military service obligations. In order to be on the ballot paper, 500 signatures from elected representatives as well as proof of assets and interests are required. Riner said that in a democracy this should not be a hurdle. Political observers in France do not expect that his candidacy could ultimately be successful. But loud Parisian He is now launching his campaign website under the slogan “The France we want”.