Teddy Riner, a champion judoka with five Olympic gold medals and 12 World Championship medals, is throwing his hat into France’s political ring. In a video posted to social media on Monday, the French judo star declared his candidacy for the country’s 2027 presidential election.
“Fighting has always been a part of me,” Riner said in the video. “I know what it’s like to fight, to fall down and to always get back up. France does not need a professional politician who recites lessons and quarrels all day. It needs good sense, firmness, justice and a government that can put things back into place.”
Riner did not align himself with either the left or right wing politicians, but said that he hoped to “bring people together.” He also acknowledged that some would call his candidacy “crazy.”
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“If refusing to lower my head and refusing chaos makes me crazy, then yes, I’m absolutely crazy,” he said.
The 37-year-old Riner is one of the most popular athletes in France due to his dominance as a judoka for nearly two decades. Riner won his first world championship medal in the 100-kilogram weight class in 2007; he has taken home 10 more individual golds (nine in the heavyweight category, two in the open category) at the World competition and three individual Olympic golds in the years since.
At the 2024 Olympics in Paris, Riner — who was also honored as one of the final Olympic torchbearers leading into the event — won gold in the men’s 100 kg, and led France to gold in the mixed team event on home soil. His five Olympic golds is tied for second-most in French Olympic history.
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Current French president Emmanuel Macron, who has held the office since 2017, is not eligible to run due to a two-term limit. (The presidential term in France is five years, rather than four years as it is in the United States.) As a result, more than a dozen candidates have currently declared for the election.
The opening round of the presidential election will take place on Apr. 18, 2027. From there, the top two candidates (assuming that no one secures the majority in the first round) will advance to a second round on May 2. Marine Le Pen, the leader of the French far-right party, is currently polling the highest of the candidates.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
