Teddy Pierre-Marie Riner (/ˈriːnər/, French: [tedi pjɛʁ maʁi ʁinœʁ]; born 7 April 1989) is a French judoka. He has won eleven World Championships gold medals, the first and only judoka (male or female) to do so, and three Olympic gold medals (two individual, one team). He has also won five gold medals at the European Championships. He was a member of the Levallois Sporting Club before joining Paris Saint-Germain in August 2017.
Personal life[edit]
Riner was born on 7 April 1989 in Les Abymes near Pointe-à-Pitre, in Guadeloupe, an insular region of France in the Caribbean. He was raised in Paris.[3][4] He was enrolled at a local sports club by his parents and played football, tennis and basketball, but says he preferred judo "because it is an individual sport and it's me, only me."[4]
He is 2.04 metres (6 ft 8 in) tall and weighs 130 kilograms (290 lb).[1][5] He is nicknamed "Teddy Bear",[6] or "Big Ted".[7]
Judo career[edit]
Riner was a member of the Levallois Sporting Club in Levallois-Perret, France and is coached by Christian Chaumont and Benoît Campargue.[7] He won the World and European junior titles in 2006.[4] In 2007, he won a gold medal at the European Judo Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, on the day after his eighteenth birthday.[8] At the 2007 World Judo Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, he became the youngest ever senior world champion when he won the heavyweight (+100 kg) event, defeating the 2000 Olympic gold medallist, Kosei Inoue of Japan, in the semi-final.[4][8]
At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, Riner competed in the men's heavyweight event.[3] He received a bye into the second round of the competition before beating Anis Chedli of Tunisia and Kazakhstan's Yeldos Ikhsangaliyev to advance to the semi-finals.[3] In the semis he was beaten by Uzbek judoka Abdullo Tangriev on the golden score, meaning Riner had to enter the repechage rounds.[3] In the repechage he defeated Andreas Tölzer and João Schlittler to reach a bronze medal final against Lasha Gujejiani of Georgia; Riner took the bronze medal by a score of one ippon, one yuko and one koka to nil.[3] In December 2008 he won his second World Championship gold medal at the Open weight Championships held in Levallois-Perret, France, by beating Alexander Mikhaylin of Russia in the final.[9][10]
Riner won his third world title at the 2009 World Championships in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. He won bouts against Daniel McCormick, Vladimirs Osnachs, Ivan Iliev and Martin Padar in the pool stage before beating Marius Paškevičius in the semi-finals and Oscar Bryson in the final to take the gold medal.[11]
In 2010, he won two medals, a gold and a silver, at the World Championships in Tokyo. After winning the +100 competition Riner was defeated by Daiki Kamikawa of Japan in the final of open weight class by a 2–1 judge's decision.[12] After the bout, Riner refused to bow or to shake Kamikawa's hand, claiming that he "was robbed".[13]
Riner won his second European gold medal at the 2011 Championships in Istanbul, Turkey. He defeated Nodor Metreveli, Emil Tahirov and Zohar Asaf to win Pool A of the +100 kg competition before defeating Estonian Martin Padar in the semi-finals and Barna Bor of Hungary in the final to win the title.[14] At the 2011 World Judo Championships in Paris Riner won the gold medal in men's +100 kg division, beating Germany's Tölzer in the final. The result meant that Riner became the first ever male Judoka to win five world titles.[15][16][17] He won his sixth World Championship gold medal as part of the French side that won the team event.[8][18][19]
Riner was selected to compete for France at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England in the men's heavyweight event.[6][7] The event took place at ExCeL London on 3 August.[20] Riner won the gold medal by defeating Russia's Alexander Mikhaylin in the final.[21]
At the 2016 Olympics, he defended his Olympics heavyweight title, defeating Hisayoshi Harasawa in the final.[3]
In his career, Riner was only defeated nine times in elite international championships. He lost to Brayson and Tölzer in 2006, to Bianchessi and Rybak in 2007 and to Muneta and Grim Vuijsters in 2008. He lost to Abdullo Tangriev in the third round of the 2008 Summer Olympics, before obtaining the bronze medal, and on 13 September 2010 he lost the openweight title at the 2010 World Judo Championships in Tokyo to Daiki Kamikawa, his last defeat before a series of 154 victories. After almost 10 years, he lost in the third round of the Paris Grand Slam against world number 2 Kokoro Kageura.[22]
In 2021, he won the gold medal in his event at the 2021 Judo World Masters held in Doha, Qatar.[23][24]
At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Riner achieved a bronze medal in the over 100-kilogram class following a defeat by Russian judoka Tamerlan Bashaev.[25][26] He also won the gold medal in the mixed team event.[27]
Awards and honors[edit]
- 2016 Officier de l'ordre national du Mérite
- 2011 RTL Champion of Champions – This annual sports award was inaugurated in 2008 and is awarded by RTL, a French commercial radio network. The previous winners were Alain Bernard (2008), Sébastien Loeb (2009) and Christophe Lemaitre (2010).[28]
- 2012 L'Équipe Champion of Champions (France male category)
- 2013 Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur
References[edit]
- ^ a b "Teddy Riner trivia". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
- ^ "Judo. Back on the tatami, Teddy Riner wins the Budapest Grand Slam". Ouest-France (in French). Agence France-Presse. 10 July 2022. Archived from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Teddy Riner". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 3 December 2016. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
- ^ a b c d Creighton, Jessica (11 February 2012). "London 2012: Is Teddy Riner a judo legend at just 22?". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
- ^ "50 worldwide contenders for 2012: Teddy Riner". BBC Sport. 7 October 2011. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
- ^ a b "Guide to judo at the Olympics". RTÉ Sports. 28 June 2012. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
- ^ a b c "Teddy Riner". The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Limited. Archived from the original on 6 September 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
- ^ a b c "Teddy Riner Bio". NBC. Archived from the original on 27 July 2012. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
- ^ "World Open Championships 2008" (pdf). European Judo Union. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
- ^ "Japan out to hunt Teddy Riner at World Championships". European Judo Union. 19 August 2011. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
- ^ "Category +100 kg: Contest Sheet". International Judo Federation. Archived from the original on 29 August 2009. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
- ^ "Judo: France's Riner cries after world championship defeat". Channel NewsAsia. 13 September 2010. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
- ^ Cheng, Maria (9 July 2012). "French behemoth Teddy Riner preps for London". Associated Press. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
- ^ "Category +100 kg: Contest Sheet". European Judo Union. Archived from the original on 10 March 2012. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
- ^ "France's Riner wins record fifth world title". AFP. 28 August 2011. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
- ^ "London 2012 – Riner wins record fifth judo world crown". Eurosport. Reuters. 27 August 2011. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
- ^ Sheringham, Sam (18 July 2012). "London 2012: As good as gold – the Olympic dead certs". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
- ^ "Olympic sport this week". BBC Sport. 30 August 2011. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
- ^ "French hosts seal record medal haul with team double". France 24. 28 August 2011. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
- ^ "Men's +100kg". Official site of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 9 December 2012. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
- ^ "Riner strikes gold in Olympic heavyweight judo". Eurosport. Sportsbeat Reuters. 3 August 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
- ^ Martin Goillandeau; John Sinnott (9 February 2020). "French judo great loses first fight in nearly 10 years". CNN. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
- ^ "2021 Judo World Masters". International Judo Federation. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
- ^ Gillen, Nancy (13 January 2021). "Riner brings IJF World Judo Masters to conclusion with heavyweight gold medal". InsideTheGames.biz. Archived from the original on 13 January 2021. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
- ^ A French judo legend falls short of a third consecutive Olympic gold, settling for bronze instead. Ken Belson, New York Times, July 29, 2021
- ^ Krpalek wins gold as Riner suffers shock defeat Tetsushi Kajimoto Tetsushi Kajimoto, Reuters, July 30, 2021
- ^ Barker, Philip (31 July 2021). "France win first Olympic mixed team judo title with commanding display against Japan". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
- ^ "Marion Bartoli élue championne des championnes 2013 par RTL". RTL. 13 December 2013.
External links[edit]
Media related to Teddy Riner at Wikimedia Commons
- Official website
- Teddy Riner at the International Judo Federation
- Teddy Riner at JudoInside.com
- Teddy Riner at AllJudo.net (in French)
- Teddy Riner at Olympics.com
- Teddy Riner at Olympedia
- Teddy Riner at the French Olympic and Sports Committee (archived) (in French)
- Teddy Riner at Team France (in French)
- Teddy Riner at The-Sports.org
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World Judo Championships — Men's Openweight | |
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World Judo Championships — Men's Heavyweight | |
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1965: +80 kg • 1967–75: +93 kg • 1979–97: +95 kg • 1999–present: +100 kg | |
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European Judo Championships — Men's Heavyweight | |
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1957–64: +80 kg • 1965–76: +93 kg • 1977–97: +95 kg • 1998–present: +100 kg | |
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| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |