France’s five-time Olympic judo champion Teddy Riner has announced he would run in next year’s presidential election.
“My name is Teddy Riner and today, I am telling you face to face: I am a candidate in the 2027 presidential election,” the 37-year-old said in a surprise announcement on social media.
Riner, one of the greatest judokas in history, said in the two-minute, 37-second video that he feared France could soon become deeply divided, appearing to cast himself as a candidate for voters unwilling to choose between two political extremes – the far right and the hard left.
“Today we live alongside one another,” said Riner, who comes from the French overseas territory of Guadeloupe. “I fear that tomorrow we’ll be living in confrontation.”
Riner, among France’s best-known sports figures, has publicly said he was very worried about the “rise of the far right.”
He also voiced concern about France “collapsing under the weight of debt.”
He lamented that “state authority has disappeared” in the face of “thugs.”
Riner, who is black, acknowledged that some people would dismiss his candidacy and call him “crazy.”
Dani Podgoretskaya, an analyst at Eurasia Group, said Riner addressed “the right pain points” but that she did not see him as a serious contender.
“He has no experience in elected office, no party and no detailed program yet,” she said.
In an interview with Le Parisien newspaper, Riner said he intended to continue his sports career. If elected president, he said he planned to compete in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
