It’s the big day for Teddy Riner who is aiming for a third individual Olympic gold medal in +100kg this Friday, August 2, 2024 at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Here is the detailed program and all the practical information to follow his day at the Olympics in judo.
This Friday, August 2, 2024, it’s time for the big day, that of the heavyweights in judo at Paris Olympics 2024 ! This day is of course that of Teddy Riner, highly anticipated by the public of the ephemeral Grand Palais who are just waiting to get excited, especially after a disappointing day on Thursday for the French camp. The leader of French judo is competing in his 5th Olympic Games and is aiming for a 6th Olympic medal after the bronze in Beijing in 2008, the gold in London in 2012 and in Rio in 2016, the bronze in Tokyo completed by the team gold in 2021.
At 35, the man who did not rule out continuing to Los Angeles in 2028 before the start of these Olympic Games, could make history this Friday by becoming the second judoka to win three individual Olympic gold medals after the legend Tadahiro. Nomura. No heavyweight, the top category of judo, has ever done it! For that, Teddy Riner will have to achieve a perfect course, starting in the first round from 11am. Here is the key information to best follow his Olympic day.
When will Teddy Riner’s first fight take place at the Paris Olympics?
The so-called “heavyweight” category, i.e. +100kg, is the last on the judo program. The Olympic tournament is scheduled for this Friday, August 2, 2024 at the temporary Grand Palais, known as the “Arena Champ de Mars” for these Olympic Games. The fights will begin at 10 a.m. for the round of 16. World No. 7 and therefore seeded, Teddy Riner is exempt from the round of 16 and will enter the table directly in the round of 16. His fight is the last round of 16 on the program and is therefore not expected before 11 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Who will be Teddy Riner’s opponent in the first round of the Olympics?
Exempted from the first round, Teddy Riner will enter the 2nd qualifying round, that is to say in the 8th finals. The name of his opponent is not yet known since the Frenchman will face the winner of the match between the Emirati Magomedomar Magomedomarov and the Algerian Lili Mem. The Emirati, who began his career under Russian nationality, seems the favorite given his 15th world ranking and his 3rd place at the last Asian championships. At 23, he has never faced Teddy Riner. The same goes for the Algerian Mohamed El Mehdi Lili, aged 28.
What is Teddy Riner’s plan to reach the Olympic final?
Teddy Riner is aiming for the final draw, played from 4 p.m. On his way, he could come across the Georgian Guram Tushisvili, 29, in the quarter-finals. A big challenge since the latter was European champion in 2017, world champion in 2018 and above all Olympic vice-champion in Tokyo, beaten by the Czech Lukas Krpralek in the final during a tournament where Riner had lost in the quarter-finals against the Russian Tamerlan Bashaev. Tushishvili is now 4th in the world and took the silver medal at the last European championships as well as at the 2024 World Championships.
He has three fights against Riner, all lost, the last one in 2022 with PSG judo in the Champions League, a defeat that was a victory before a protest and declassification. Riner will especially remember the semi-final of the 2017 World Championships, a fierce fight that saw him narrowly win on the road to his 9th world title. In short, this potential quarter-final would be particularly tough… The Uzbek Yusupov, beaten twice at the Paris Grand Slam in 2023 and 2024, could find him in the semi-final. In the other part of the draw, we will obviously be watching the Japanese Tatsuru Saito, 6th in the world, and the South Korean world number 1 Minjong Kim. The Tajik Temur Rakhimov and the Cuban Andy Granda are also outsiders.
Who is Tadahiro Nomura that Teddy Riner can join in case of victory?
Teddy Riner dreams of it. This third Olympic title in Paris would be a consecration at home but also a very symbolic accessit since it would allow him to join Tadahiro Nomura, the only judoka to have won three individual Olympic gold medals. The Japanese was entered in -60kg and won gold in Atlanta in 1996, in Sydney in 2000 and in Athens in 2004. Also world champion in 1997, he failed to qualify for the Beijing Olympics in 2008. No heavyweight, Riner’s category, has achieved this feat. Hitoshi Saito in 1984 and 1988, David Douillet in 1996 and 2000 and Teddy Riner in 2012 and 2016 are the only ones in the category to have won Olympic gold twice in what is considered the premier category of judo.