In his quest for a fabulous Olympic hat-trick among heavyweights, Teddy Riner once again made his mark by winning the Antalya Grand Slam, gaining an advantage over the Japanese Tatsuru Saito, beaten in the final four months before their big meeting Parisian. Not necessarily spectacular but always methodical, Riner suffered in the final, penalized twice, but ended up scoring a point (waza-ari) to win in regulation time. In five fights, it has not gone to overtime.
If he meets the Japanese again at the Olympics, for example in the final, Riner will inevitably arrive with a psychological advantage. He now leads 2-0 against Saito after having already dominated him in the quarterfinals in Doha last year, before snatching his eleventh world crown. The 34-year-old Guadeloupean returned to competition after his record eighth coronation at the Paris Grand Slam in early February, for a new stage of preparation towards the Olympic goal on August 2 at the Arena Champ-de-Mars.
After the fervor of Bercy, filled in February with thousands of spectators won over to its champion, it was almost in the indifference of the local public that he continued his march forward. Since his defeat against Russian Tamerlan Bashaev in the quarter-final of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Riner has not lost: he won the Grand Slams in Budapest in 2022, Paris in 2023 and 2024 and therefore Antalya. Without forgetting his world title.
On the shores of the Mediterranean, he began by sweeping away Bahraini Azamat Chotchaev in 52 seconds. Spectacular. The rest of his day was then more tactical. One week shy of his 35th birthday, Riner took advantage of his aura against opponents who were always impressed, sometimes paralyzed by his incomparable stature and record. The 27-year-old Dutchman Jur Spijkers, the Brazilian Rafael Silva, another 36-year-old vestige of the “Riner generation”, then the young German Erik Abramov suffered his law in quick succession, beaten by disqualification after three penalties (hansoku make).
In the half against Abramov, 24, who still has no record at the highest level but who had just beaten the Finnish Martti Puumalainen, 2023 European champion, Riner brought down his opponent, scoring a point (waza-ari), before manage your advance. In a room much less crowded than the neighboring beaches of the Turkish Riviera, Riner had come to “win, of course”, as his trainer Franck Chambily explained to AFP this week, but above all to “see where he is on preparation.
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Under the eyes of his family, recharging his batteries between fights with his daughter in his arms in the warm-up room, Riner also gained valuable points in the Olympic rankings in Turkey. He temporarily climbs among the eight seeds, a status which normally allows him to avoid a preliminary round at the Olympics and to have a clearer draw in the first fights.
After an internship planned in Japan from April 21 to May 4, Riner does not rule out a final test run, at the Grand Slam in Kazakhstan (May 10-12) or at the World Championships in Abu Dhabi (May 19-24). ). In the meantime, all the lights are green for the tricolor giant.