“Don’t stand idly by while the country burns” – Olympic champion wants to challenge Le Pen

The five-time judo Olympic champion Teddy Riner has surprisingly announced his candidacy for the French presidential election. “My name is Teddy Riner, and today I tell you face to face: I am a candidate in the 2027 presidential election,” said the 37-year-old in a video distributed on online services on Monday. Riner had previously expressed concern about the “rise of the right-wing radicals” in France.

Riner continued that he could not stand idly by and “watch the country burn.” "The fight is part of me. I know what it's like to fight, to fall and to get up again and again," the eleven-time judo world champion continued. Riner admitted that there are already “many candidates” for the French presidency. But he is convinced that he has “every chance” of winning. According to his own statements, he can be classified as neither right nor left.

“I’m not just a judoka,” Riner stated in an interview with “Le Parisien”. He didn't want to be reduced to the status of a champion or athlete, content to climb onto the podium and have nothing to say about anything else. The events this fall motivated him to run for office, “the anger, the concern and the feeling that no one was addressing it.” Large social protests have been taking place in France for weeks.

Even as president, Riner would not want to forgo taking part in the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028, “if the office allows me to do so and the French allow me to do so.” When asked whether the judo star was prepared for the tough election campaign, Riner, who is more than two meters tall, replied: “Taking punches is, you know, my job.” He's not afraid of that. And those who can take blows also know how to deal them.

Riner turns his attention to Le Pen and Mélenchon

Riner explained that it was not aimed at a specific electorate, but at “all French people, the young, the non-voters, everyone who wants to dream big.”

“The only danger I see today is to resign ourselves to choosing between only two alternatives, the extremes,” said the judoka in the video, referring to Marine Le Pen’s right-wing populist Rassemblement National party and Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s left-wing populist La France Insoumise.

In surveys ahead of the French presidential election next spring, Le Pen has been consistently ahead for weeks at 35 to 37 percent. A runoff election between Le Pen and Mélenchon is therefore expected.

All adults with French citizenship can run in the presidential election if they have fulfilled their civil or military service obligations. In order to end up on the ballot paper, however, 500 signatures from elected representatives as well as proof of assets and interests are required. Riner said that in a democracy this should not be a hurdle. According to “Le Parisien”, he is now launching his campaign website under the slogan “The France we want”.