Teddy Riner cements legendary status with "perfect day" at Paris 2024 Olympics

Teddy Riner collapsed to his knees with a roar.

It was finally over.

Amid the unending screams of a boisterous home crowd - in full voice well before he had even stepped onto the tatami - 35-year-old French judo titan Riner had defeated the number one seed Kim Minjong in the final of the men’s +100kg event to become the first-ever judoka to win four Olympic golds and the most decorated Olympic judoka of all time with six medals.

Coming into these Games, Riner was already part of France’s pantheon of top sporting stars. His 11 world titles, five European crowns and 10-year-long winning streak meant that the judoka was an easy choice to jointly light the Olympic cauldron at the crescendo of the Opening Ceremony alongside the legendary Marie-José Perec.

And just like the golden glowing hot air balloon he sent into the Parisian night sky, he lit up the Champ de Mars arena with his historic conquest.

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It was lost on no one, not least Riner himself, that the French colossus had achieved his historic victory in Paris’ iconic Champs-de-Mars - a ground named after the Roman god of war.

Just like the namesake of his surroundings, Riner had battled valiantly for his crown.

First, he had to negotiate with the United Arab Emirates’ Magomedomar Magomedomarov. It was an awkward and unconvincing opening display from the Frenchman. The beating chants of the crowd turned almost into pleas as the match went into golden score.

'Come on, Teddy! Your supporters are here!' They cried out in reassurance.

Riner eventually slipped past Magomedomarov after the Emirati acquired a second penalty. He had survived his first test.

The quarter-final was an altogether different kind of challenge for the Frenchman. Georgia’s Guram Tushishvili, the silver medallist from Tokyo 2020, presented as a much wilier opponent and duly pestered Riner from the get-go.

The tension between the pair - aided by the baying crowd - built and built until eventually, it spilt over altogether. After Riner countered the Georgian judoka to land an ippon score to win the match, Tushishvilli lingered around for afters knocking the Frenchman back down as he tried to get his feet.

The Georgian was later shown a red card and subsequently suspended from the remaining competition and team event by the International Judo Federation for acting "against the spirit of judo".

Temur Rakhimov, Riner’s semi-final opponent, had all the hallmarks of a last-minute banana skin. Seeded second, the 27-year-old had earned his spot in the semi-final by dispatching another potentially tricky opponent in Uzbekistan’s Alisher Yusupov.

But stepping out again into thunderous applause, Riner didn’t even look bothered.

Just after the clock counted down past the three-minute mark he wrapped his right knee around the Tajik’s before twisting him over onto the floor, landing onto his fallen body: ippon, the score was declared. Riner grinned as he looked at the crowd on its feet.

One bout left to go.

In the end, it would be Kim who would be Riner’s final test before a third individual Olympic title.

The judoka from the Republic of Korea, known for being deceptively fast, put his pace immediately to work as he tried to catch Riner unaware. But the Frenchman, unbowed by the occasion and the smarts of his competitor, didn’t fall for the bait.

Riner wrested Kim’s advances until finally, the opportunity came. With just 16 seconds remaining he found his much-needed - and wanted - ippon to end the fight and seal his place in the annals of history forever.

Not a second after the final blow had landed, Riner exploded back onto his feet both arms outstretched. He looked around the raucous arena before his iconic grin grew from one ear to the next. As the magnitude of the moment sunk in he raised three fingers to the crowd.

Three Olympic individual gold medals.

Still in a post-europhic daze, as he addressed a packed-out media room, Riner considered the question carefully when asked how he would describe the moment.

"I don't know," he admitted. "I'm very proud of my perfect day. But I need time to realise it.

"This day is just incredible. I know. And I hope all athletes can have a perfect day like this at home. Maybe tonight. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe the word will come to my mouth because I'll have time tonight," he continued with a smile. "I don't think I'll sleep good... But I know it's a dream. It's a dream."

As to the mechanics of the "perfect day" and how it was engineered, Riner only hinted at the sacrifices he was forced to pay.

In 2020, the judoka's stunning 10-year-long winning run was brought to a shattering end at the Paris Grand Slam. A year later, he then suffered another surprise upset in Tokyo, where he lost in the quarter-finals, only to return for the bronze.

"After Tokyo, I changed my training. I move all the time to different countries. It's difficult when you have a family but when you win a beautiful medal like this today you understand why you make a lot of concessions like this."

Is it now all over for Riner?

In short: no. The Frenchman will go to battle again on Saturday, 3 August, in the team final where he, and France, will try to defend the gold they so strikingly won in Tokyo’s Nippon Budokan - the ancestral home of judo - three years ago.

The target once again will sit firmly on his gargantuan back but Riner isn’t too fazed.

Being the giant everyone wants to fell has been something he has been navigating his whole career. And bouncing back when eventually there is a slip, such as in Tokyo 2020, is something he also knows intimately.

As for what awaits Riner beyond Paris, that is still yet to be defined.

On the question of a tilt at Los Angeles 2028 not half an hour after his victory, the affable Frenchman smiled; “Of course, but each one needs to wait its turn. For the moment we’re in 2024 and I want to enjoy this medal.”

Despite his coyness, Riner, who would be 39 by the time the Games in the United States arrive, has already made plain that this is a legacy he wants to endure for as long as possible.

“For me, the goal is to die in my grave with my records,” he told Olympics.com in an interview one month before Paris, “to push them as far as possible so that generation after generation, they can try but cannot succeed.”

Few would deny the Frenchman is doing a good job of that.

Whatever the future may hold, for his historic feats today at least, there can be little doubt that the Riner has now arrived at the summit of a mountain few athletes only ever dream of climbing.

He has reached the pinnacle of his sport and gone beyond.