Latest news with #TeddyRiner
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Teddy Riner to miss World Judo Championships as he preps for one more Olympics
France's Teddy Riner, the most successful judoka in Olympic history, will miss next month's World Championships as he comes back from elbow surgery and prioritizes long-term preparation for a record sixth Olympic bid. "Even though the elbow surgery I underwent a few months ago is behind me, I'm not yet feeling 100%," was posted on Riner's social media. "And to step onto a tatami at the highest level, I need to be ready, both physically and mentally. It's never easy to withdraw from a major competition, but this is a thoughtful decision made with my team. We're working hard every day to come back stronger." Advertisement Riner, 36, owns the most Olympic gold medals (five) and medals (seven) in judo history, including individual heavyweight titles in 2012, 2016 and 2024. He also shared the honor of lighting the Paris Olympic cauldron with fellow Guadeloupe native Marie-José Pérec, a track star from the 1990s. Since winning individual and team gold in Paris, Riner has repeatedly said that he plans to compete through the 2028 LA Olympics. "Now that I have become the record holder in my sport, I experience things differently," he said in April, according to a translation of a L'Equipe report. "Now, four years (before the 2028 Olympics), I will try to go moonwalking in Los Angeles. No pressure, only pleasure. And if I manage to go and collect a fourth (individual) gold medal, I will do it with joy. That is the objective. But it is certain that there will not be the pressure that I was subjected to in Tokyo, in Paris. Now, it is above all pleasure. And to live the last four years of my sport at the top. And to finish in 2029 to say goodbye." Advertisement He is already the oldest Olympic judo gold medalist, and in LA can become the oldest judoka to win an Olympic medal of any color, according to the OlyMADMen. Riner, who made his Olympic debut in 2008, can break the record he currently shares of five Olympic appearances in judo. Riner also owns the record of most world championship titles in judo — 12 from 2009 through 2023, including two in separate open competitions without weight categories and one in a team event. He also skipped World Championships in both the Tokyo and Paris Olympic cycles. Olympics LA 2028 LA 2028 Olympics add new events in swimming, gymnastics, track; more female spots for first time There will be more women's quota places than men's quota places at the Olympics for the first time.
NBC Sports
15-05-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Teddy Riner to miss World Judo Championships as he preps for one more Olympics
France's Teddy Riner, the most successful judoka in Olympic history, will miss next month's World Championships as he comes back from elbow surgery and prioritizes long-term preparation for a record sixth Olympic bid. 'Even though the elbow surgery I underwent a few months ago is behind me, I'm not yet feeling 100%,' was posted on Riner's social media. 'And to step onto a tatami at the highest level, I need to be ready, both physically and mentally. It's never easy to withdraw from a major competition, but this is a thoughtful decision made with my team. We're working hard every day to come back stronger.' Riner, 36, owns the most Olympic gold medals (five) and medals (seven) in judo history, including individual heavyweight titles in 2012, 2016 and 2024. He also shared the honor of lighting the Paris Olympic cauldron with fellow Guadeloupe native Marie-José Pérec, a track star from the 1990s. Since winning individual and team gold in Paris, Riner has repeatedly said that he plans to compete through the 2028 LA Olympics. 'Now that I have become the record holder in my sport, I experience things differently,' he said in April, according to a translation of a L'Equipe report. 'Now, four years (before the 2028 Olympics), I will try to go moonwalking in Los Angeles. No pressure, only pleasure. And if I manage to go and collect a fourth (individual) gold medal, I will do it with joy. That is the objective. But it is certain that there will not be the pressure that I was subjected to in Tokyo, in Paris. Now, it is above all pleasure. And to live the last four years of my sport at the top. And to finish in 2029 to say goodbye.' He is already the oldest Olympic judo gold medalist, and in LA can become the oldest judoka to win an Olympic medal of any color, according to the OlyMADMen. Riner, who made his Olympic debut in 2008, can break the record he currently shares of five Olympic appearances in judo. Riner also owns the record of most world championship titles in judo — 12 from 2009 through 2023, including two in separate open competitions without weight categories and one in a team event. He also skipped World Championships in both the Tokyo and Paris Olympic cycles. Nick Zaccardi,
Local France
04-04-2025
- Politics
- Local France
Athletes frustrated as France mulls Muslim headscarf ban in sport
The single mother made her four children proud when she became the French national champion in her amateur category last year, after discovering the sport aged 40. But now the Muslim convert fears she will no longer be able to compete as the French government is pushing for a new law to ban the headscarf in domestic sports competitions. "It feels like they're trying to limit our freedoms each time a little more," said Eberena, a passionate athlete who trains five days a week. "It's frustrating because all we want is to do sport." Advertisement Under France's secular system, civil servants, teachers, pupils and athletes representing France abroad cannot wear obvious religious symbols, such as a Christian cross, a Jewish kippah, a Sikh turban or a Muslim headscarf, also known as a hijab. Until now, individual national sports federations could decide whether to allow the hijab in domestic competitions. But the new legislation aims to forbid the head covering in all professional and amateur competitions countrywide. Backers say that would unify confusing regulation, boost secularism and fight extremism. Critics argue it would be just the latest rule discriminating against visibly Muslim women. The bill passed in the Senate in February and is soon to go to a vote in the lower house of the French parliament. Some proponents want to stop what they call "Islamist encroachment" in a country that has been rocked by deadly jihadist attacks in recent years. But critics point to a 2022 interior ministry report finding that data "failed to show a structural or even significant phenomenon of radicalisation" in sport. French Olympic judo champion Teddy Riner, a star of the 2024 Paris Games, last month said France was "wasting its time" with such debates and should think about "equality instead of attacking a single and same religion". Right-wing Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau responded that he "radically disagreed", describing the headscarf as "a symbol of submission". Advertisement Eberena, who converted aged 19, said her head attire - allowed by the weightlifting federation - had never been an issue among fellow weightlifters. She said the sport has allowed her to make friends from completely different backgrounds. "Sport brings us together: it forces us to get to know each other, to move beyond our prejudices," she said. France's football and basketball federations are among those that have banned religious symbols, including the headscarf. The country's highest administrative court in 2023 upheld the rule in football, arguing the federation was allowed to impose a "neutrality requirement". United Nations experts last year called the rules in both sports "disproportionate and discriminatory". Advertisement It is difficult to estimate how many women might be prevented from competing if such legislation passes. But AFP spoke to several women whose lives had already been affected by similar rules. Samia Bouljedri, a French 21-year-old of Algerian origin, said she had been playing football for her club in the village of Moutiers for four years when she decided to cover her hair at the end of high school. She continued playing with her team, but after her club was fined several weekends in a row for allowing her on the field, they asked her to take off her hijab or quit. "That they ended my happiness, just like that, over a scarf made me really sad," she said. France's brand of secularism stems from a 1905 law protecting "freedom of conscience", separating church and state, and ensuring the state's neutrality. The country's constitution states that France is a secular republic. Rim-Sarah Alouane, a researcher at University Toulouse Capitole, said the 1905 law, intended "to protect the state against potential abuses from religion", had been "weaponised" against Muslims in recent years. French secularism "has been transformed into a tool in its modern interpretation to control the visibility of religion within public space, especially, and mostly, targeting Muslims," she said. Sports Minister Marie Barsacq last month warned against "conflating" the wearing of a headscarf with radicalisation in sport. But Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin said that if the government did not "defend secularism", it would empower the far right. In the Oise region north of Paris, Audrey Devaux, 24, said she stopped competing in basketball games after she converted to Islam a few years ago. Instead, she continued training with her former teammates and began coaching one of the club's adult teams, she said. But when she goes to weekend games, she is not allowed onto the courtside bench with a headscarf - so she is forced to yell out instructions from the bleachers. "At school I learnt that secularism was living together, accepting everyone and letting everybody practice their religion," Devaux said. "It seems to me they're slightly changing the definition."
