One year before the 2024 Olympics, Teddy Riner marks his comeback at the highest level. Winner of his eleventh title of world judo champion on Saturday in Doha, the 34-year-old Frenchman had to draw very deep within himself to win. “It’s been an exhausting day,” he admitted minutes after receiving his gold medal.
We had to dig very far to get this eleventh title…
Yes, I had to look very far, it was a very difficult day and at the end of this day, this waza-ari, it is a pleasure because the day is over, the rally is over. This more than horrible day is over and suddenly I leave with a new title of world champion, the eleventh. It is very pleasing because the day has been exhausting. So there is pride, the last time was 2017, it’s been a while. To go for an eleventh title with a plateau like this, more than a year from the Games, it was not easy.
Was it the biggest day of your career, given your age and the set?
Totally. For me it is one of my biggest days, if not the most difficult. But it’s important to have gone to the end of this day, to have taken up the challenge and above all to tell myself that even when I’m not in good shape, I have the condition to tear myself away. The Games are a unique day, so you might as well prepare well and put all the ingredients together.
Was it important to come back to the Worlds to take the temperature of the new generation?
Clearly. The Paris Grand Slam was a first step, but the tournaments, the Grand Slams, are something, and the world championships are something else. It’s 3, 4, 5 tones above and you have to answer present.
Did you surprise yourself?
I wasn’t surprised because I like to win, I think I’ve proven that enough! I tore myself off, it was played in the mind today. And I’m also happy to see that the body is responding well, I asked him to hold on and take up the challenge and he did.
What kept you going?
The mind, I don’t like to lose so I say to myself: “Go ahead, go ahead”. I say to myself “Look at the state in which he is, continue, he will fall”. And in every fight I do, I repeat to myself: “You don’t let go until he falls”. The body is on red alert, but that’s the mind. When judo, the sensations are not there, you have to appeal to the mind. The brain guides the rest.
We’ve seen you wince during the day, it shows that it’s not that easy…
I’m glad that day was like that in people’s eyes because a lot of people think it’s easy. It is an ultra-constraining and traumatic sport. There is no easy victory. Every victory I have had in my career has been complicated and today even more so.
You win when you are only at 60% according to your coach, does that mean that you will be unbeatable next year?
I hope so, in any case I work for that, to be unbeatable, to be the best, but the best in all its forms: in feelings, in judo, in mind, in everything. That’s good, we’ve achieved a big step. Now a little rest. I need to treat the wounds and then we will go back to work very quickly.
Even if you have won a lot in your career, this new gold medal is good for reassurance?
Of course. Doubt will always be there. Even if in my perspective, it’s always winning, I always step on the tatami telling myself that I can lose or win. It’s up to me to choose.