It must be said that the spectators present in the stadium got their money's worth because today a page in the history of French and world sport was written. By winning his third Olympic gold medal in the individuals, Teddy Riner joins Tadahiro Nomura (JPN) who was to date the only judoka to have achieved this feat. But with his two other Olympic medals and his mixed team title in Tokyo in 2021, Teddy Riner enters a category of champion that only he occupies. To this must obviously be added the 11 world titles that he holds.
The longevity of the French champion is simply incredible. Will he stop with this Parisian title? That is not really the question today. What matters is what this exceptional champion has achieved and the legacy he can already leave to generations of judoka. Many were present today in Paris, but even more were in front of their screens to watch Riner's coronation. We will remember for a long time this moment of communion between a champion and his public.
A few minutes before, we witnessed the coronation of another great champion, Beatriz Souza (BRA) who defied the odds to impose herself in the cauldron of the Arena Champ-de-Mars. She is a magnificent champion who had an extraordinary day. She joins the group of Brazilian Olympic champions which now has five athletes. Brazil is one of those countries that has the capacity to produce world and Olympic champions, it proved it again today.
In the men's category, we will remember the performance of Kim Minjong (KOR) who, after becoming world champion in Abu Dhabi, reached the final at +100kg, as well as the beautiful bronze medals of Temur Rakhimov (TJK) and Alisher Yusupov (UZB). In the women's category, the Israeli Raz Hershko had an almost perfect day, while Hayun Kim (KOR) and Romane Dicko (FRA) completed the podium.
Tomorrow is the day of the mixed teams which starts at 8am. Stay tuned to find out if we will be entitled to a rematch of Tokyo 2020 which saw France's victory against Japan.