Teddy Riner fears injuries towards Olympic Games

French judoka Teddy Riner has been plagued by injuries for years and admitted that he fears injuries when he is on the tatami, more than a year before the Paris Games. Teddy Riner has had so many injuries in recent years that he fears them when he steps on the tatami. This is what he revealed on Monday during a press conference held at the Judo Institute in Paris: "The truth is that when I get on the mat, I am afraid", he added during a TV interview with L'Equipe TV.

He seriously injured his knee before the Tokyo Olympic Games and then missed the World Championships last October because of a sprained right ankle he suffered at the end of August. "It's never easy to come back from an injury, especially this one where I avoided an operation".

And if the 33-year-old judoka fears injuries, it is above all because he has the goal of competing in the Olympic Games at home, in Paris in 2024: "Today, time counts. If there's one event you can't miss, it's the Olympics at home, so today [...] I'm paying attention. The whole staff is focused on that. To do this, he has to take care of his body, which has already been damaged by his 18-year career.

Riner mentioned the situation of the Club Championships in Gori when Tushishvili made a forbidden throw and was later disqualified.

Present at the Grand Slam in Paris (4-5 February), Teddy Riner hopes to use it to prepare himself as well as possible, still with a view to the Games. "I don't want to miss out, I want to succeed at home. I want to go for this third individual Olympic gold medal", he said.