Teddy Riner launches French Presidential bid: Can 3-time Olympic judo champion succeed Macron?

Three-time Olympic judo champion Teddy Riner launched a bid for the French presidency, with a focus on "bringing the French people together”. The 37-year-old confirmed he would not run on a left- or right-wing ticket, with his campaign intending to “show that we can turn France around”. He also raised the slogan for his campaign “The France we want”.

He said on Monday, “France is a great country. It has allowed me to become the person I am today and has allowed me to dream big." “Today, that’s what’s missing. That ambition is gone; that hope is gone," he added.

“I see a divide in society across the country, but I do not accept what I hear in the mouths of young people: that it is difficult today to imagine a future. That is why I decided to commit myself, alongside the French people, and to become a candidate for the presidency," he also said.

Also read: Khamenei orders Iranian President Pezeshkian to end ‘no war, no peace’ status with US

Can a 3-time Olympic beat Macron?

The next successor of Emmanuel Macron will be elected in April next year because Macron, who served two consecutive terms, is now ineligible to run for election again. Meanwhile, Riner has no prior experience in politics; however, he is a well-known and prominent figure in France. Previously, he expressed his willingness to enter politics for a top-level post.

He said in an interview last year, “I am a citizen above all, not just a sportsperson. If tomorrow I enter politics, it wouldn’t be to be a minister; it would be to change things. The best role would be president.”

Born in Guadeloupe and raised in Paris, Riner boasts an extraordinary judo résumé: nine heavyweight world titles, two openweight world titles, three individual Olympic golds, two team golds, and two bronze medals. Ahead of the 2024 Paris Games, he carried the Olympic torch and, alongside former sprinter Marie-José Pérec, lit the Olympic cauldron at the opening ceremony.

He credited that home-Games experience, watching the nation unite in joy and pride over two weeks — as the spark behind his political ambitions, saying he wants to replicate that same sense of national unity on a lasting, country-wide scale. He also clarified that entering the presidential race won’t mean stepping away from judo, and he still intends to compete at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.