Teddy Riner is betting on internships rather than competitions before the Tokyo Olympics.
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Henri Collot / Sipa
Internships, but no competition planned before the Tokyo Olympics "for the moment".
This Tuesday, the director of high performance of the French Judo Federation Larbi Benboudaoud presented the preparation of Teddy Riner before the Olympics (July 23-August 8).
In Japan, the champion, who turns 32 on Wednesday, will aim for a third coronation, unprecedented in heavyweight.
To date, only the Japanese Tadahiro Nomura, in lightweight, has achieved the feat of winning three times Olympic gold in judo (1996, 2000 and 2004).
"Afterwards, you never know, it may perhaps evolve, but for the moment, it is not planned", indicated Benboudaoud on the sidelines of the announcement of part of the French selections for the next international championships.
Riner notably plans a two-week internship in Guadeloupe, his native island, during the month of April.
He will therefore not participate in the European Championships in mid-April in Lisbon.
"Priority to training"
The reigning double Olympic champion in +100 kg (2012 and 2016) and ten-time world champion (eight times in +100 kg, two in all categories) returned to victory in mid-January at the Doha Masters for his return to competition international, almost a year after his defeat in Paris.
It was then his first lost fight in nearly nine and a half years.
At the beginning of March, he had preferred to give "priority to training" rather than aligning himself in a tournament.
His current 15th place in the Olympic rankings virtually assures him of his qualification for the Tokyo Games, but it does not quite allow him to claim a seeded status and the potentially more favorable table that goes with it.
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