For his comeback, the 33-year-old Guadeloupean judo champion,Teddy Riner, will try to win the title of French team champion with PSG Judo. This will be his first competition of the year 2022. It takes place on Saturday in Villebon-sur-Yvette (Essonne).
Reddy Riner, three-time Olympic judo champion, ten-time world champion and five-time European champion has never been crowned French team champion since joining PSG Judo in 2017.
Other stars are also expected in Essonne: the recent European champions, Romane Dicko (+78kg) and Marie-Ève Gahié (-70kg) will be present.
Teddy Riner has the 2024 Olympics in his sights
In November 2021, Teddy Riner and his teammates won the bronze medal and this time he intends to take his club to the top: “It’s a big club, a heart club and so far I haven’t had a team title with them, so it would be nice to finally win this coronation“.
This judo meeting in Essonne is also, for the champion, the way to gain strength. He has in mind the World Championships in Uzbekistan at the beginning of October.
“My decision is still to do these Worlds, in order to prepare for the 2024 Olympics, even if before that there is also the Budapest Grand Slam in July, another important moment.,” he recalled.
Internships abroad to progress a little more
To be in top form, the 33-year-old Frenchman performed two internships in Brazil and Mongolia. He says it has given him a lot.
“I felt the change in terms of frequency of judo, with a big technical diversity. It’s another culture, especially in Brazil where I did Brazilian ju-jitsu and I was able to observe the progression. It’s great“.