Is Teddy Riner right-wing or left-wing? It is difficult to politically situate the famous judoka, who declared his candidacy for the presidential election on Monday, November 9. In an interview with Le Parisien, the three-time Olympic judo champion refuses partisan political labels. “Neither one nor the other. I speak to the French,” says Teddy Riner.
“In his political positioning, he borrows from the left and the right,” judges communicator Ariane Ahmadi Kermanshahani, founder of Kerman Consulting. “He has a profile marked on the left on values (discrimination and the fight against racism) and marked on the right on the themes of authority and the society of effort,” continues the expert.
Teddy Riner thus defends in his interview with Le Parisien the "unavoidable necessity" of a pension reform and does not rule out "a part of capitalization". In this same text, the athlete also evokes his fight against racism "which must be the fight of all, not the business of a single party", recalling the positioning of La France insoumise.
“It’s a bit of a Lisnard/Philippe candidacy who would have produced children with Mélenchon. All of this is complicated to place,” analyzes political scientist Virginie Martin. Would Teddy Riner bring “at the same time” back into fashion? “He is running a campaign like in 2017 when we were looking for a leader from civil society who would rid us of old political habits,” judges Philippe Moreau-Chevrolet, professor of political communication at Sciences-Po and support of Gabriel Attal.
"The tenor of his speech is 'I'm proud to be an amateur, you know where I come from and we're going to get through this through work'. It's the return of Macron."
Would Teddy Riner then be the providential man expected by some while the alternative candidates to Marine Le Pen and Jean-Luc Mélenchon are struggling to exist on both the left and the right? “It is a continuation of another candidacy from civil society: that of Natacha Polony,” explains Ariane Ahmedi Kermanshahani.
“These candidacies respond to the political apathy on the arc between Raphaël Glucksmann, considered not firm enough, and Gabriel Attal, considered not social enough.”
“The specificity of this presidential election is that no one appeals to the majority of the French,” judges pollster Erwan Lestrohan, interviewed by AFP. “In this context of very high distrust, a candidacy from civil society can have a certain audience among the French.”
A positioning which, for Philippe Moreau-Chevrolet, ultimately condemns the candidacy of the Olympic champion. “It’s an offbeat candidacy, because we are, on the contrary, in a period where we are very ideologized with RN and LFI. We are in a very political moment and this response that he wants to provide is dated,” he analyzes.
But the new presidential candidate is still extremely popular in public opinion. “There can be a little dynamic and a little curiosity,” comments Virginie Martin. “It will be interesting to observe how he can transform notoriety capital into political capital. He is not just an athlete. He is an Olympic champion, the ultimate incarnation of France,” adds Ariane Ahmedi Kermanshahani.
“If he ranks very high on proximity to the French, he starts from zero on political credibility,” adds the pollster. In an opinion survey dating from December 2025, Teddy Riner was nevertheless credited with 3% voting intention, at the top of personalities from civil society.
If he manages to collect 500 signatures to be able to run, Teddy Riner can therefore, if he does not disrupt the destiny of this presidential election, play a role.
“It can take away votes from some, notably Jean-Luc Mélenchon on the issue of racism.”
“The risk is also to weaken the candidates who are best able to confront the National Rally, by eating away at votes on the left and right, by accentuating the dispersion of votes,” believes Erwan Lestrohan.
