Frenchman Teddy Riner won his third Olympic title by beating Korean Kim Min-jong in the +100kg final on August 2, 2024 at the Arena Champ-de-Mars. This is his third individual Olympic title after those of 2012 and 2016, and a long-awaited revenge after his disappointing third place in 2021 in Tokyo. With this new medal, Teddy Riner also became the most decorated judoka in the history of the Olympic Games, accumulating a sixth award in total.
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After having had the honour of lighting the Olympic cauldron alight a week ago alongside Marie-Josée Pérec, Teddy Riner could have become the only judoka to be a triple Olympic heavyweight champion and at the same time strengthened his status as a judo icon in France and internationally. After 2012 in London and Rio in 2016, the colossus achieved what no one has done so far in the premier category: he won a hat-trick.
An electric morning
Teddy Riner adds a new individual medal to his collection, he who also has two other Olympic bronze medals (2008, 2021). Defeated in the quarterfinals of the 2021 Olympics in Japan by the Russian Tamerlan Bashaev, Riner had picked up the bronze and gold in the team competitions. Undefeated since Tokyo, Riner had chained competitions and training camps around the world, sending several world champions to the mat.
For his debut in the competition, Teddy Riner beat the Emirati Magomedomar Magomedomarov in overtime. He then eliminated the Georgian Guram Tushishvili, Olympic vice-champion of Tokyo, at the end of an electric fight in the quarter-finals. Although very sharp, Teddy Riner seemed very tense for his first two outings of the day.
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Time for a new coronation
After a break of about three hours, Teddy Riner faced the Tajik Temur Rakhimov, world number 3, whom the mountain of Pointe-à-Pitre had beaten twice in two confrontations. The third confrontation between the two men was again to the advantage of the Frenchman. The long-awaited final was there, in a room heated to white heat.
At the Arena Champs-de-Mars, only the Korean Kim Min-jong remained who could block Riner’s path. By beating the last two Olympic finalists, in Riner’s absence, Kim Min-jong had won himself a first world champion title last May in Abu Dhabi. But Riner took advantage of an incredible venue to set the record straight with an ippon. With Teddy Riner’s gold, France pocketed the eighth medal in judo for France, and also the first title.
In the history of judo, only Japanese super-lightweight Tadahiro Nomura had achieved the feat of an Olympic hat-trick, in Atlanta in 1996, Sydney in 2000 and Athens in 2004.
In Paris, in front of his home crowd, under the eyes of Tony Parker, Teddy Riner picked up the golden thread of his Olympic history. If he started these Games at home by lighting the Olympic cauldron, he also set the Arena Champ-de-Mars alight. On Saturday, Riner can aim for a new mixed team title with the other Blues, after the victory against the Japanese in Tokyo.
Romane Dicko still in bronze!
Romane Dicko, 24, bronze medalist in Tokyo and 2022 world champion, had the potential to claim the supreme title in the +78 kg category in Paris. The one who climbed the ranks at the speed of a tornado, to the point of showing up in Paris with gold as her only goal, came up against a snag in the semi-final. Brazilian Beatriz Sousa stole her Olympic dream at the Golden Score with an ippon. Entering the competition, Romane Dicko had no trouble dismissing Georgian Sophio Somkhishvili, who was penalized with three penalties in three minutes. She then dispatched Larisa Cerić in 34 seconds, who came from Bosnia-Herzegovina to reach the semi-final against Souza, the future Olympic champion. Romane Dicko must be content with another bronze medal, this time at home. I was ready, I had everything going for me. It’s a huge disappointment, I came for the gold, that’s the law of sport. I managed to remobilize myself for the bronze, but that’s not enough to console me “, commented Romane Dicko.
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