Five-time Olympic judo champion Teddy Riner announced on Monday that he would run in France‘s 2027 presidential election, saying France needs “common sense, firmness, justice, and a state that puts things back in order.”
The 37-year-old athlete announced his candidacy in a video published on X/Twitter, presenting himself as an outsider to traditional politics and calling for greater national unity.
“My name is Teddy Riner, and today, I am telling you this while looking you straight in the eye. I am running for president in the 2027 presidential election,” he said.
La résignation n’est pas une option. Face aux difficultés de notre pays, l’heure est venue de prendre ses responsabilités. Je suis candidat à l’élection présidentielle de 2027. #TeddyRiner2027 #Présidentielle2027 #LaFrancequonveut https://t.co/nM7rTfyTrH
— Teddy Riner (@teddyriner) November 9, 2026
Riner acknowledged that his lack of political experience would likely draw criticism, anticipating that people would say he was “crazy,” outside the political establishment and unfamiliar with how government worked.
He pointed to France’s public debt, the cost of living, and concerns over public safety, arguing that ordinary people had increasingly been left to deal with the country’s problems.
“Is it crazy to find it unbearable that a mother or father has to grit their teeth while filling their shopping cart? Or tremble with fear when their child goes outside because we have surrendered the streets to thugs and the authority of the state has disappeared?” he said.
“If refusing to bow my head and refusing to accept chaos makes me crazy, then yes, I am completely crazy,” he said.
Riner promises to bring practical leadership, not polished politics
The judoka said he would bring the determination he had developed through his sporting career into politics, arguing that France needed practical leadership rather than professional politicians.
“I haven’t spent my life standing behind a lectern. Fighting has always been part of who I am. I know what it means to fight, to fall, and to get back up, every single time,” Riner said.
“France does not need a professional politician who recites rehearsed lessons and spends all day arguing. It needs common sense, firmness, justice, and a state that puts things back in order,” he added.
Riner has described himself as neither left-wing nor right-wing and said he wanted to become a president capable of bringing French people together, Le Monde reported. In an interview with Le Parisien, he said he was running to demonstrate that France could be restored and that he wanted to be a unifying figure.
Riner has said he does not intend to abandon his sporting career and hopes to compete at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, provided the responsibilities of the presidency and the French public allow it, according to Le Monde.
