“Sooner or later it had to happen. It is with a good dose of philosophy that Teddy Riner welcomed his first defeat since September 13… 2010. However, a few minutes earlier, the entire AccorHotel Arena in Paris-Bercy had stopped talking when seeing the double Olympic champion be surprised by the Japanese Kokoro Kageura, author of a masterful counter to win during the "golden score". Stupor and tremors for the French judoka who remained on 154 successive successes, the glance turned on the record established by the Japanese Yasuhiro Yamashita, victorious in 203 consecutive successions between 1977 and 1985.
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Knowing the hatred of the defeat of the Guadeloupe colossus, many were those who imagined hearing him comment on his lapel with a dark look and a tight jaw. It did not happen. "I'll tell you something else," he said with a smile on his face, "I feel relieved of some pressure. Counting the fights to get Yamashita, it became heavy to carry. It makes me feel good, and now we're headed to Tokyo. "On his failure of the day, Riner did not want to dwell more than reason:" I was missing a lot today. Judo was there, but I probably lacked explosiveness, and aggressiveness too. All this deserves a good debriefing with my staff. You have to go back to work and understand the why and how. From here to Tokyo, I still have time to work well, to prepare well. Good that this defeat occurred today, it is a very good date. "
For his part, Franck Chambilly, his coach, pushed the tactical analysis a bit far: "Attacking in this way was probably not the best option because the Japanese felt it coming perfectly and he trapped Teddy, who gave the stick a bit to be beaten instantly. He hadn't lost ten years, but it happens. Perhaps it will be an evil for a good in view of the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Today, I think he was ready enough for such a competition, even if he is still a little too heavy. He lacked speed on the legs. "
"It was not my day"
Ultimately logical imperfections for an athlete who experienced twenty months of inactivity after his tenth world title in November 2017. And even if on his return, in July 2019, he had won the Montreal tournament, before doing the same three months later in Brasilia, the fact remained that the great Riner had not yet returned to 100%.
Sunday, in an enclosure of Bercy which he rediscovered seven years after his last participation, his first fight, painstakingly won against the modest Hungarian Richard Sipocz in the "golden score", almost announced the chronicle of a failure. And after having already posed many problems in Brasilia, it is hardly surprising to have seen the Japanese Kageura take advantage of it to create the feat. "It was not my day and we have to start again," he concluded. I missed something today, even though I was very good in my head, that I felt ready. I will find out why I lost and I will redouble my efforts so that this does not happen again. "
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