2017 Newsmakers: Teddy Riner

FIGHT SPORTS looks at some of the biggest newsmakers in 2017 in the world of FIGHT SPORTS from December 26th up until January 1st.

First up is the top newsmaker in judo, Teddy Riner.

Here are a few notes on Teddy Riner’s year.

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The two time Olympic champion, who recently secured his ninth world title, and who also has won his last 138 matches, will help relaunch the judo section of the famous French club.

The 28-year-old trained with the club from its inception in 1992 before it was suspended 10 years later.

He will be tasked with recruiting young talent for the judo school to help the team’s main aim of developing a squad of athletes who are capable of representing France at international competitions.

Teddy Riner wins his 9th world title

Teddy Riner extended his match winning streak to 134 consecutive contests, a feat that dates back to 2010, and won his ninth world championship on day six of the 2017 Suzuki World Judo Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

Riner, of France, earned the championship in the final of the +100kg, or heavyweight, competition, when he faced off with world number one David Moura, of Great Britain. After two minutes with the bout in golden score, Riner threw with a sasae-tsurikomi-ashi to continue his historic run in the sport.

It was not the first time in the competition he was in golden score, however, as Guram Tushishvili of Georgia posed quite the threat to Riner. The Georgian judoka executed a waza-ari, but Riner landed on his front and with one elbow down. Riner then was able to score the victory, but praised Tushishvili’s efforts following the bout.

Teddy Riner wins his 10th world title.

The French judoka capped off the first day of the IJF’s 2017 Openweight World Championships in Marrakech, Morocco, by winning his 10th world title.

Riner won the title by defeating Belgium’s Toma Nikiforov in the final match, the sixth Riner competed in during the day. Riner got the first score 25 seconds into the bout with a sumi-gaeshi. As the bout entered the halfway mark, Nikiforov, seemingly in control, launched a o-soto-gari, but Riner countered with a o-soto-gari for another score. While Riner was penalized with 11 seconds remaining for stepping out of bounds, he was able to control Nikiforov for the remainder of time to secure the gold medal.

“I had really good matches and my opponents were strong,” Riner said after the win. “I have really to carefully watch [Guram] Tushishvili [of Georgia] in the future, for instance. It’s good that they want to take my place. But I’m not ready to give it away.

“I wanted the tenth title. I was dreaming of it and it happened in front of my family, which makes it even tastier.”

Riner advanced to the final with a win over Cuba’s Andy Granda in the semis. Riner won that bout in golden score with a chi-mata for waza-ari. Nikiforov, meanwhile, defeated Japan’s Kokoro Kageura in the other semifinal after executing an ippon.

Following the competition, Riner said he would take some time off and think about what’s next in his judo future.

“Now I will take a long vacation. I need it,” he said.

“I will watch my weight but I need some rest. I don’t know yet if I will participate in the World Championships next year and in 2019. I have to adapt a little bit my rhythm. Today, I am world champion again, and I’m happy.”

Who do you feel are the most newsworthy athletes, personalities, or promoters of 2017? Let us know in the comments below, as well as on Facebook and Twitter.