Five months before the Tokyo Olympics which will be held from July 23 to August 8, Teddy Riner gives up the Grand Slam of Tashkent (Uzbekistan) which will be held this weekend as well as that of Tbilisi (Georgia) scheduled for 26 to March 28.
His trainer Franck Chambily explained on Wednesday that he wanted to give “priority to training.
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Victorious in January 2021 at the Doha Masters (success in the final against the Russian Inal Tasoev), the Frenchman had returned to victory on the international scene, a year after his defeat at the Grand Slam in Paris.
In February 2020 the Japanese Kokoro Kageura put an end to Teddy Riner's nine and a half years of invincibility (154 wins in a row, his last defeat then went back to the 2010 Worlds in Tokyo against the Japanese Daiki Kamikawa).
Still in the race for Tokyo 2021
At 31, the Frenchman dreams of a third Olympic medal that he could win this summer in the land of judo.
Currently, Teddy Riner is in 15th place in the Olympic rankings.
He is not among the seeds but he has until June 28, the deadline for obtaining the points necessary for Olympic qualification, to improve his position.
In addition, the Paris Grand Slam, which was to be held in early May at the AccorHotels Arena in Bercy, has been canceled.
"The IJF (Editor's note: the International Judo Federation) informed the FFJUDO by mail of its intention to cancel the Paris Grand Slam scheduled for May 8 and 9 in Paris, proposing the postponement of the Paris date after the Tokyo Games »Declared in a press release the FFJDA (French federation of judo and associated sports) this Tuesday.
Instead, it is the Grand Slam of Kazan (Russia) which will take place from May 5 to 7.
