Teddy Riner and his PSG Judo club won the Champions League on Saturday in Montpellier. The five-time Olympic champion won his only fight for his return to competition five months after the Paris Games. The first men’s Champions League title for the club since 1995.
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“ I’m happy, there was a great team and a great atmospheresmiled Teddy Riner after his victory and that of PSG Judo in the Champions League in Montpellier this Saturday. 2024 has been an extraordinary year. Winning with the French team, then with PSG, I tick boxes on my big list », declared the French Olympic champion, after lifting the trophy. “I have two big goals left, to be European team champion, the title that is missing from my list of achievements, and Los Angeles in 2028,” added the man who had not fought since his two Olympic coronations this summer, in +100kg and by teams.
Saturday in Montpellier, the legend of French judo, whose participation in the mixed event had been announced Friday to everyone’s surprise, only got on the mat once, during the final between PSG and Red Star Belgrade. He faced the Cuban Andy Granda, a worthy opponent, world champion in 2022 and fifth in the last Worlds in 2024, like the Paris Olympics.
A “quite complicated” return
After five months without competition, Riner, 35, was greeted with a nice ovation when he entered the mat, but he logically appeared far from his best level. However, he won on penalties after more than eight minutes of a difficult but unspectacular fight. “ Let’s just say I’ve seen better days “, he smiled. Sometimes we are a little diminished, but we have to push through ourselves and bring the point back to the team “, he added.
“ Since the final of the Team Games, this is my first judo session, hence the somewhat difficult and sluggish side. I returned to the gym, physical preparation. But on the other hand judo… It was quite complicated, but the main thing is to have a great day and to achieve this with the club », explained Riner again.
With this victory, Riner indeed brought a point to PSG, who fielded a very high level team and who ultimately won 4-0 in the final. This is a third Parisian coronation in the event, after that of the men’s team in 1995 and that of the women’s team in 2023. Previously, the capital club, supported by 120 young supporters who came specially from Paris, with red and blue flags, beat Asnières 4-1 in the quarter-finals, notably with a success from Romane Dicko, who was also making her return to competition after her Olympic bronze medal. She also won the final against Belgrade and won her two bouts by ippon, spending a total of less than a minute on the mat.
No Paris Grand Slam for Riner
Then in the semi-finals, the capital club dismissed Judo Ukraine 4-0. Riner did not participate in these first two rounds of the competition, played at the FDI Stadium in Montpellier. Initially, the five-time Olympic champion was not announced in the PSG squad for the competition, due to failure to extend his contract, which expired on August 31. An agreement on an extension, the duration of which was not specified, was finally reached to allow him to participate in the tournament.
But we won’t see Riner on the mats again anytime soon, since he has made it known that, contrary to what was announced at the beginning of the week, he will not participate in the Grand Slam in Paris in February. “ I’m telling you, I don’t do Paris. Because I’m not ready, that’s not the objective of the season and because at the start of the year, in two or three weeks, heading to the operating room for injuries that I should have fixed before and that I made you wait for the Champions League “, he revealed.