The French judo legend Teddy Riner is not satisfied. Returning to competition this weekend, Riner qualified for the final of the Paris tournament on Sunday. Despite being in difficulty against the Uzbek Alisher Yusupov in the semi-final, Riner managed to win with an ippon. The seven-time winner in Paris is expected to compete in the final shortly after 5 pm. Six months before the Paris Olympics, the triple Olympic champion, mysterious about his preparation, has been living up to expectations so far.
For a few seconds, Bercy and its approximately 15,000 spectators fell silent. A chill went through the crowd when Yusupov threw the giant Frenchman. But the ippon, signifying the end of the fight, was ultimately downgraded to a simple point (waza-ari) after a video review: Riner had not been thrown directly onto his back.
A minute had passed. It took Riner another minute to equalize with a waza-ari each. Then in the final thirty seconds, the Frenchman made a decisive attack. He could finally smile, relieved, and raise his fingers to the sky.
Yusupov, who won a bronze medal at the 2023 World Championships, will be an opponent to watch for in the Olympics. Riner made his return to individual competition on the mats nine months after his eleventh world champion title in Doha, Qatar.
The 34-year-old Frenchman started the day against the Kazakh Galymzhan Krikbay, who was disqualified after three penalties in 2 minutes and 28 seconds, then against the South Korean Jaegu Youn, who was brought down in only 42 seconds. In the quarterfinals, he immobilized the 22-year-old German Losseni Kone on the ground after 2 minutes and 32 seconds. As the defending champion in Paris, he will face the South Korean Kim Min-jong in the final to pursue an eighth record victory in Paris and surpass his compatriots Lucie Décosse and Clarisse Agbégnénou, who won gold on Saturday in the -63 kg category.
