Teddy Riner Announces French Presidential Candidacy

Judo champion Teddy Riner has announced his candidacy for the French presidential election, entering the race with no party and no manifesto so far. The five-time Olympic champion and 11-time world champion said he is running under the slogan "La France qu'on aime" (The France we love).

Campaign Launch

Riner, 37, was born in Guadeloupe and has no experience of public office. More than 28 million people have watched his election broadcast on Instagram and X, and an Ifop poll found 22% said they "could" vote for him within 24 hours. He has made a campaign visit to a hospital in the Seine-Saint-Denis suburb of northern Paris and visited a trade fair of products made in France.

Position on Macron and Politics

President Emmanuel Macron said Riner joining the 2027 election race could "only benefit the country" and called him a "great champion". Riner rejected the association, telling reporters he was "not the president's envoy, I'm not a Macronist". He described Macron's congratulations as "more like a poisoned chalice".

Political Landscape

Riner has cast himself as a candidate for voters unwilling to choose between the far right and the hard left. Opinion polls project far-right candidate Marine Le Pen as winning the first round of next year's vote, with hard-left hopeful Jean-Luc Mélenchon qualifying to face off against her in a second round. Riner has hinted he would be in favour of a pension reform and a reduction in social security contributions, while also saying "a young person's future can be shattered just because they don't have the right connections, the right name or the right skin colour."

Why it matters

Riner's entry adds another contender to an already crowded centre field, potentially diluting polling numbers for figures such as former prime ministers Edouard Philippe and Gabriel Attal. Macron's former prime ministers are distancing themselves from the unpopular one-time boss, and the leader of France Unbowed (LFI), Jean-Luc Mélenchon, said of Riner's "neither right nor left" pitch: "We know how it goes: neither right nor left means not left."

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Sources

• bbc.com: Judo champion Teddy Riner shakes up French presidential race with surprise candidacy
• aol.co.uk: France presidential hopeful judoka distances himself from Macron - AOL

This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.