In the corridors of the Lusail complex in Doha, where the Blues of handball had won one of their world titles in 2015, Teddy Riner displays a smile of circumstance.
Winner of the Masters, this Wednesday, the French would thank almost the whole world, so happy of a return to the foreground in which we no longer necessarily believed.
He has almost a year, the one we imagined invincible (he remained then on 154 wins in a row), had his feet badly in the carpet, beaten by the Japanese Kokoro Kageura.
"He had done (the Grand Slam of) Paris without wanting to do it, it was not the moment but he did it anyway", recognizes one of his coaches Laurent Calleja.
Stung to the quick, the proud champion then decided to “reverse the cursor”.
"It was the right moment, the alarm bell, it was pulled for a long time, he pulled it when he wanted to pull it", continues the coach.
The champion took charge of food hygiene (he lost 26 kg and found his weight in 2012 with 139 kg) and got more involved in training.
"I saw the looks of my opponents throughout this week in Doha, because of my weight loss, my new musculature," Riner smiles.
A strong message has been sent.
The 2021 Raw Riner is more dynamic, more engaged, less breathless.
“Physically, he was ready, on the hands, the kumikata was really good, in the way of doing, in the attitude, it was superb, analyzes Laurent Calleja.
The only criticism we could make him is his commitment to the attacks, he was very careful and could have triggered a little more.
But one thing at a time.
"
"I set the record straight"
“I felt great throughout the day, I didn't have to dig deep,” admits Riner.
His judo was logically more pleasant to watch.
“For two years, we had a Teddy who was retreating, who waited in games, who very often took penalties and who went to the golden score, details the coach.
This time, we saw a conquering Teddy, with ippons and two penalties in five games.
"
The future will tell if the postponement of the Tokyo Games to the summer of 2021 was beneficial.
Riner, in any case, is no longer engaged in a race against time, in this quest for benchmarks as was the case in 2020. “I don't want to say that the boss is back, let's say only that I'm back, points out the 31-year-old champion.
I have set the record straight, but we must not miss the point.
"This is only one step, we must not get carried away," tempers the coach, even if only the world champion, the Czech Krpalek, was missing in Doha.
Preparation will continue.
“We are at the very beginning to re-muscle him and give him back all his feelings in judo.
He has regained his former physique, but he can become even stronger than before.
The goal for the next six months is to increase the sliders everywhere.
Technically, physically.
Psychologically, it's done, he regained confidence.
"