Teddy Riner is running for president of France.

The 37-year-old judoka, who holds five Olympic gold medals and ten world titles, announced the bid on Monday in a video on his social media accounts and in a parallel interview with Le Parisien. The first round of the election is set for the spring of 2027.

“I won’t be among those who stand by and watch the country burn, looking for excuses,” Riner told Le Parisien, in comments carried by Euronews. “My life hasn’t been spent behind a desk.”

Neither right nor left

Riner is standing without a party and framed himself at launch as a candidate of unity, neither right-wing nor left-wing.

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“The country is experiencing deep divisions right now,” he said in comments reported by CP24, adding that he saw no single candidate putting forward a credible vision for France.

“France does not need a professional politician who lectures and bickers all day,” he told Le Parisien. “It needs common sense, goodness and a state that puts things as they should be.”

Born in Guadeloupe, Riner has been one of the most recognizable faces in French sport for more than a decade. His heavyweight Olympic golds came in 2012, 2016 and 2024, with mixed team golds added in 2020 and 2024, alongside ten world championships. France has a precedent for an Olympic judoka in national politics: David Douillet served as sports minister in 2011 and 2012.

Macron welcomes the bid

President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the candidacy, saying Riner’s entry could only benefit the country, according to franceinfo.

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Recent polling cited by Euronews puts the far-right Marine Le Pen on 36% ahead of the first round, well in front of the hard-left Jean-Luc Mélenchon on 17.6%.

Still training for Los Angeles

Riner does not intend to give up his sporting career while campaigning. He wants to go to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics in pursuit of a fourth individual gold medal, provided his “duties as president allow it and the French people give me their blessing,” CP24 reported.

Under French electoral rules he must first gather 500 sponsorship signatures from elected officials to appear on the ballot.

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