Training Teddy Riner means being “finer in the setting” to bring this “Formula 1” of judo in ideal conditions to the 2024 Olympics, explains to AFP his trainer Franck Chambily, who decided with the colossus not to not go to the World Masters this weekend.
Question: Why not go to Budapest, for the second most important competition of the year after Worlds in May?
Answer: “We made the choice not to participate because of the proximity to the World Championships precisely. Teddy (titled for the eleventh time, Editor’s note) had a hell of a championship with six fights and he met almost all the best. There, putting the cover back with the Masters, which is like a second world championship, in its position, we don’t really see the point. The real goal for Teddy is the Olympics. And a guy like Teddy, you can’t expose him as a young kid every five minutes, because he is indeed of a certain age, he has already won the world championships eleven times, the Masters four times. So the goal is rather to further develop the technique.
Q: Even Teddy Riner, at 34, can still improve his judo?
A: “Yes of course, we can improve, we can have clicks. And in this, the debriefing of the world championships was important, even if he won, he can still improve, on the attack frequencies, on the actions-reactions, on the preparation of these attacks, the calls, the standing-ground connection. And it’s not enough to analyze it, you have to put it into practice, and then you have to do it in competition, so automate all that. And it takes time and time is playing against us a little, even if we still have it.
Q: What difference does it make to train Teddy Riner compared to a youngster?
A: “It’s finer in tuning. Teddy is a Formula 1. You have to bring him very motivated of course, even if the Games are in Paris, you have to bring him to technical efficiency at best perhaps from what he has been for a very long time . Physically, he has to be in weight, there is a whole adjustment to be made, and that at the right time. And the right time is August 2, 2024 for Teddy. It will be necessary that all these elements of performance, physical, technical, mental, psychological, are at the top level. Me, that’s the only thing that interests me. And that is perhaps the hardest part.
