Teddy Riner’s coach Franck Chambilly told L’Equipe that his protege would not participate in the Budapest Masters in early August, but would rather return to competition in the fall.
Since his world title on May 13 in Doha, Teddy Riner has not competed in any competition. And the 34-year-old judoka is not about to do it. While his return was scheduled for August 6 at the Masters in Budapest, Hungary, the triple Olympic champion (individual and team) will not return until the fall. In any case, this is what his trainer Franck Chambily said in the columns of The teamwhile specifying that his protege was not injured.
« Teddy will not be competing at this time, not until September, October or November. We really focus on training. It’s really too early, two months after a World Championship which scores 2,000 points (in the ranking), he left a lot of physical and psychological energy. Putting the cover back two months later, with Teddy’s track record and longevity, on a Masters with the 32 best, it’s equivalent to doing a World Championship again. No interest. (…) We must not burn the cartridges, Teddy is expected in July 2024. ”
Riner hopes to be in the Top 8 before the Olympics
The Paris 2024 Olympic Games are obviously Teddy Riner’s main goal for the end of his career. By then, he hopes to be in the Top 8 of the “Olympic ranking” which will allow him to be seeded during the Olympic tournament of +100kg and avoid a cador before the quarter-finals. Currently, the world champion is in sixth place thanks to the 2000 points brought to him by his victory in Doha.
However, his coach does not want to worry about this: “Of course he will lose points but we will do one or two competitions by the end of the year, there are still quite a few with the Grand Slams of Baku (September 22-24), Abu Dhabi (October 24-26) or Tokyo (December 2-3). Teddy will do competitions but better distributed in his season, ”confides Chambilly to the sports daily. Teddy Riner could also take part in the European championships in Montpellier in November.
