Five weeks after his victory in Antalya (Turkey), Teddy Riner will continue his Olympic preparation by participating in the Dushanbe Grand Slam in Tajikistan on Sunday, the French Judo Federation announced Wednesday evening.
Dushanbe could be Riner’s last tournament before the Paris Games in three months, unless he competes at the World Championships in Abu Dhabi at the end of May.
Riner remains on a victory at the Grand Slam in Antalya, where despite his success, he had expressed a certain weariness. The 35-year-old Guadeloupean, who is aiming for a third individual Olympic title in Paris in the 100 kg category, said he was “tired” and “without desire”.
Undefeated since his defeat against Russian Tamerlan Bashaev in the quarter-final of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Riner has since won the Grand Slams in Budapest in 2022, Paris in 2023 and 2024 and therefore Antalya. Without forgetting the world title, the eleventh of his career, won in Doha a year ago.
A good result in Tajikistan would allow him to gain valuable points in the Olympic rankings to approach the Games as top seed, a status which normally allows him to avoid a preliminary round and have a clearer picture for his first fights. .
Two other French Olympic selections, Walide Khyar (-66 kg) and Sarah-Léonie Cysique (-57 kg) will be traveling to Tajikistan.