Brasilia (AFP)
The boss is back! Teddy Riner has shown that he remains the undisputed boss of world judo by winning without shaking at the Brasilia tournament, his second competition since returning to tatami mats in July.
The French colossus needed only twenty small seconds to inflict a masterful ippon at the regional stage, the Brazilian David Moura, who had pushed him to the golden score (extension) in the final of the Worlds in 2017.
Riner, 30, has thus raised to 152 his vertiginous series of fights won since his last defeat, which dates back to September 2010, against Japan's Daiki Kamikawa, at the Worlds all categories.
With this title in the Brazilian capital, the French garnered valuable points in the race to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics 2020, where he will try a tripled unprecedented heavyweight.
That's why the world judo boss has become a real globetrotter: after Brazil, he will travel to Abu Dhabi (October 26) and Perth, Australia (November 4).
In July, he had made his comeback on the tatami mats after twenty months of absence by winning the Grand Prix of Montreal.
In Brasilia, the French flew over the competition, despite a more complicated introduction to Kokoro Kageura, current Japanese N.2 in heavyweight.
He had to wait more than five minutes in the golden score to drop his opponent with a crash of a spectacular wazari.
In the quarterfinals, Riner showed more control against the Russian Inal Tasoev, whom he swept from a wazari to a minute of the end, in a fight largely dominated from start to finish.
The Frenchman inherited a big piece in the semifinal, the reigning world champion Lukas Krpalek, but the hurdle was overcome without much difficulty.
Accused, the Czech has done almost nothing and ended up being disqualified after three penalties for lack of fighting spirit.
Before landing the world gold in August, Krpalek had given Riner a lot more trouble in Montreal, a month earlier, with the Frenchman taking more than six minutes to beat the golden score.
France finishes the competition with four medals, Riner's gold and the bronze of Kilian Le Blouch (-66kg), Audrey Tcheuméo (-78kg) and Julia Tolofua (+78kg)
A disappointment for Tcheuméo, vice Olympic champion in Rio and world champion in Paris in 2011, beaten in the semifinal by the German Anna Maria Wagner, 23 years old only.
© 2019 AFP