J0 Paris 2024: Teddy Riner wins gold at the Grand Slam in Dushanbe – a big step towards seeding at the Games

4 fights, 4 ippons! The latter in the final against Tajik Temur Rakhimov, the second racket of the world, who nevertheless fought at home, in Dushanbe, in front of his audience. Teddy Riner put in a great performance this Sunday at the Tajikistan Grand Slam in the +100kg category.

France did not send a large delegation to the Grand Slam tournament in Dushanbe and won only one medal on Saturday – Sarah-Leonie Sisik (57 kg).

There were five in the competition this Sunday, but only one brought home the charm, the most anticipated: Teddy Reiner. His path to the final was a long and quiet river. Turk Munir Ertug and German Losseni Kone did not particularly mind the Habs’ dominance. In the semi-finals, young Russian Denis Batchaev, for his first meeting with the Olympic champion, lasted two minutes and 30 before suffering a merciless o-soto-gari. Mission Complete.

The final remained at home against Tajik Temur Rakhimov, the second racket of the world, but who did not last even 30 seconds in their only confrontation, in the semi-final of the last world championship. The more diligent Tajik, however, bore the price of missed penalties, conceding two goals in less than two minutes. Before this was a waza-ari from the Frenchman, which left no doubt about the outcome of the fight. Indeed, 30 seconds later he finished the job, scoring his 11th Grand Slam success, his third this year after successes in Paris (February 4) and Antalya (March 31), and sending a strong signal heading into the Olympics.

The main goal of the French judo giant was first and foremost to score valuable points during this competition, climb the Olympic rankings and gain precious seeding status at the Paris Games, so as not to fall for another big client before the final square.

Ninth with 4,000 points heading into this Grand Slam, he gains 1,000 points with this win and should make a nice jump in the rankings, which could prompt him to not compete again in official competition until the Olympics, especially at a Grand Slam. Kazakhstan next week and at the World Championships in Abu Dhabi on May 23. This has yet to be decided in consultation with his headquarters.