Tokyo (AFP)

World judo star Teddy Riner is aiming for a third Olympic crown in Tokyo, and the only judoka in history to do so so far, Japan's Tadahiro Nomura, would be "happy" to see the Frenchman equal his record historical.

"It would be painful to see a Japanese lose, but I would also be happy to see Riner win the title," Nomura, 46, said in an interview with AFP's Tokyo office in late June.

He, who ended his sports career in 2015, won Olympic gold for the first time at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics in the super-light weight category (-60 kg), then successfully defended his title at the two subsequent editions, in Sydney (2000) then Athens (2004).

An unprecedented feat in judo, for both men and women, and still unique.

But this is the goal in Tokyo for Riner, 32, playing in the heavyweight category (+100 kg): he won gold in London in 2012 and then in Rio four years later.

The unspectacular way in which the Frenchman had triumphed in the final in Rio, against the Japanese Hisayoshi Harasawa, had however been criticized by some.

Nomura hopes that Riner will show more panache in Japan: "Ideally (...) he would have to offer a performance worthy of the king that he is, to win his third (Olympic) title with a solid judo", estimates Nomura in her elegant, perfectly tailored suit.

- Pride "stung to the quick" -

Riner is expected to fight in Tokyo with a spirit of revenge after his fight lost in February 2020 in Paris against Japan's Kokoro Kageura, thinks Nomura.

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This defeat, which ended his impressive streak of 154 consecutive victories over almost ten years, should have made him even stronger: "He has a different look, and his body is different. He is sharp," said the judge. former great Japanese champion.

"He was not in his best condition (in Paris in 2020, Editor's note), he was not ready, and he lost. He knows that. His pride has been stung and he comes to Tokyo to win" .

According to Nomura, this should make Guadeloupe a real "scarecrow" for his opponents at Budokan, the mythical arena of martial arts in Tokyo, which will host judo and then karate.

After giving up competition at the age of 40, the still slender and dashing Nomura took care of other judokas and also worked in the media.

He knows Teddy Riner well, whom he first met in France around 2007, and is full of praise for him.

He is an "impressive athlete" who is "very kind and charming", and his ten world championship titles certainly make him "the king" of judo, he boasts.

- A huge challenge -

The Japanese also knows, better than anyone, the extent of the challenge that awaits Teddy Riner.

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A surprise winner in Atlanta, Nomura was at the top of his game when he doubled down four years later in Australia.

But after his Olympic double, the pressure pushed him to take a step back by leaving for the United States.

It was there that he rediscovered his love for judo.

He then decided to do everything to snatch a third gold medal at the Athens 2004 Games.

“A lot of people said I was done, asked me how much longer I wanted to hang on or told me I had to step back,” he recalls.

"It was a question of believing in myself or not, and how much I wanted" for this third supreme title.

The "sacred ground" of the Budokan is the ideal place for a similar feat of Teddy Riner, he believes.

"The simple fact of coming to this place gives me a special emotion. I only saw images of Olympic judo at the Budokan (during the Tokyo-1964 Olympics, Editor's note) so I'm really excited to see that with my own eyes ".

"I would love to see Harasawa against Riner in the final," he said.

Either the ideal revenge of Rio-2016.

© 2021 AFP