“Resignation is not an option”: Teddy Riner announces his candidacy for the 2027 presidential election

“Resignation is not an option. Faced with the difficulties of our country, the time has come to take responsibility. I am a candidate for the 2027 presidential election,” announced Teddy Riner on X, Monday, November 9. The judoka, five-time Olympic champion, added, in a video filmed in front of the camera: “Fighting has always been part of me. I know what it is to fight, to fall, to always get back up.”

"France does not need a professional politician who recites lessons and quarrels all day long. It needs common sense, firmness, justice and a State which puts things right. This fight to put France back on track, I will not do it for you by remaining at the top. I will do it with you and for you", he also declared during this surprise announcement.

“Look at our country, our streets, our countryside, our neighborhoods. We have allowed fear, renunciation, and a feeling of generalized abandonment to take hold,” says Teddy Riner. The Olympic champion anticipates critics who will call him “crazy”. “If refusing to lower my head and refusing chaos makes me crazy, then yes, I am completely crazy,” declares Teddy Riner, referring to “France collapsing under the weight of debt” for example.