Where football has Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo among others, judo has Teddy Riner.
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Where football has Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo among others, judo has Teddy Riner.
The sport has never seen anything like the Frenchman, whose impressive physical stature is only matched by his performance on the mat.
Now his larger than life story is the subject of a documentary film which he told euronews is “warts and all”.
“For me it was very important, not only to show myself but to completely show the life of a sportsman at the highest level; not just a few examples, but to show everything in order to make people understand it. It was very important for me that people understand that even in sport nothing is easy,” said Riner.
“If I am here today it’s because of my family. It is my family that supports me, and has led me here to the Cannes festival. I have received a very good education. My family always helps and supports me, they always give good advice. They’ve never told me to ‘go get a medal’ but they say ‘go enjoy yourself,’ he added.
A world champion several times over, Riner defends his Olympic title in Rio this summer and will no doubt have many more fans following his exploits on and off the mat.
Un héros, un exemple.
teddyriner</a> pour le très réussi documentaire biographique <a href="https://twitter.com/Festival_Cannes">Festival_Cannes and moreeuronews</a> <a href="https://t.co/vhTobYfCCL">pic.twitter.com/vhTobYfCCL</a></p>— fred ponsard (fredponsard) May 21, 2016