Judoka Teddy Riner announces bid for France's 2027 presidential election

Teddy Riner has big plans: he is running for the office of French President. Photo: Michel Euler/ap

From Paris — By Rudolf Balmer

As a judoka, Teddy Riner has won virtually every prestigious title over the past 20 years; he is a multiple Olympic champion and world champion in the heavyweight category. Now he wants to take on a different challenge: on Monday, the 37-year-old announced his candidacy for the French presidential elections in April 2027.

The video address quickly went viral. Many people initially thought it was fake news as they scrolled through their social networks. But Riner promptly confirmed to the media now clamoring for him that he is entirely serious.

His appearance was perfectly staged. In the background, clearly visible, stood a bookshelf with volumes that looked like encyclopedias or legal yearbooks, next to it the tricolor flag, and in the foreground the elegant Riner himself in a dark blue tailored suit and white shirt.

The muscular man, who is already training for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, is a colossus who fills the frame and can convey a sense of impressive strength on his own. Who would want to take him on? But with his friendly yet solemnly serious smile, he doesn't actually look threatening.

Riner has been at the top of the ten most popular personalities in France for years. As a judo star born in Pointe-à-Pitre on the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, he is not one of the overexposed party politicians. He is an almost blank slate in politics and owes his popularity solely to his sporting successes. This weighs in as a tremendous advantage for his candidacy.

Despite his imposing stature, his 2.04 meters in height and 140 kilos in weight, Riner is (at least so far) a flyweight in politics. Nobody knows his election program. He has only delivered sonorous phrases on the subject: "Giving up is not an option." Or that he stands "neither left nor right."

Reading between the lines, this can be interpreted as a strategy against a runoff between the far-right Marine Le Pen and the left-wing tribune Jean-Luc Mélenchon. This could allow him to fill a real gap in the market of political vanities. After all, none of the previously known candidates for the presidency who claim the political center for themselves has convinced. For them, Riner is a perfect spoiler who can steal votes from all political camps.

So Riner cannot count on goodwill alone. His opponents and the media will reveal that, as the owner of a luxury car rental company, he was convicted of tax evasion involving his Ferraris and Rolls-Royces, and has also fallen under suspicion of lobbying for Morocco. He has held a residence permit there since 2024 and, according to media reports, has his private center of life and training base there.

President Emmanuel Macron, however, thinks it is "great" that such a "champion is engaging in the election debate with his convictions, his ideas, and his talent for the benefit of the country." The fact that the highly unpopular president is betting on Riner could dampen the initial enthusiasm of many of the judoka's fans.

Rudolf Balmer, Paris

Related articles:

• France's Left: Mélenchon wants to "change everything"
• Socialists in France: Raphaël Glucksmann becomes candidate for presidential elections
• Before the presidential election in France: Right and Left position themselves