Paris (AFP)

Teddy Riner confirmed on Thursday at Insep that he would launch his Olympic year in ten days at the prestigious Paris tournament, in which he had not participated since 2013, six months from the Olympics-2020 where he will seek a third unheard of sacred in heavyweights.

"It is very well placed in my preparation. It will give me a + shoot + of pressure, which will allow me to prepare myself at all levels: judo, a tournament where we will have to hold a whole day, of the world that puts you the pressure because you don't have to lose, be perfect on the mat with the new rules ... ", lists Riner.

"It's important to put yourself on the alert six months from the Games, to go see how you really are, what color the visionaries really are," he continues.

His trainer at Insep Franck Chambily estimates his protégé at "60%" of his optimal form. "He needs to lose more weight, and in terms of benchmarks, he lacks competition and a background in judo training," he explains.

"This is a rehearsal, perhaps the strongest tournament of the year in which he will participate before the Games. It is important that he get into the tough game right away," he describes.

Since his comeback - victorious - on the carpet in early July last year in Montreal, after twenty months without competition, the double Olympic heavyweight champion and tenfold world champion (eight times in +100 kg, two in all categories) n participated in only one other tournament, which he won, in Brasilia in early October.

But a broken rib in training then forced him to give up Abu Dhabi and Perth in the following weeks and deprived him of judo between "three and four weeks", according to Chambily.

With 1,700 points, the 30-year-old judoka appears virtually qualified for Tokyo in the Olympic ranking of the International Judo Federation. But climbing in the world hierarchy would offer him a potentially more favorable picture for the Olympic Games. The Grand Slam of Paris earns 1000 points.

Riner is undefeated since September 2010 and a series of 152 fights.

© 2020 AFP