France: Olympic icon Riner wants to become President

Teddy Riner, 37, announced his surprise decision on Monday. The French presidential election is due to take place in April 2027.

France’s judo icon Teddy Riner has unexpectedly announced his intention to stand for the office of President next year. The five-time Olympic champion announced this decision on Monday in a video he posted on his social media accounts. The elections will take place in April 2027, when France will vote to choose a successor to Emmanuel Macron, who is ineligible to stand again after two terms in office.

“My name is Teddy Riner, and today I’m telling you face to face: I’m standing in the 2027 presidential election,” said the 37-year-old: “I know what people will say about me: ‘He’s mad.’ ‘He’s never been involved in politics.’ If refusing to bow my head and refusing to accept chaos makes me mad, then yes, I’m completely mad.”

Le Pen leads in the polls

He believes he stands a chance despite the many other candidates. “The only risk I see today is resigning oneself to choosing between two options, namely the extremes,” said Riner, referring to the right-wing Rassemblement National, for which Marine Le Pen is leading in the polls, and the left-wing La France insoumise. Riner describes himself as being neither on the right nor on the left politically. Most recently, he publicly expressed his concern about the “rise of the radical right” in France.

Riner, who was born in the French overseas department of Guadeloupe, is still active as a judoka. In an interview with the newspaper *Le Parisien*, also published on Monday, he added that he intends to continue his sporting career and even compete at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, “if my office allows it and if the French people permit it”.

Since the 2024 Games in Paris, he has been the first judoka to become a three-time Olympic heavyweight champion; he has also won Olympic gold twice as part of the team. In addition, Riner has won a total of eleven World Championship titles. Over the course of his career, he has been named France’s Sportsman of the Year three times.