Paris (France) (AFP) – If Teddy Riner is one of the French's favorite personalities, the five-time Olympic Judo champion, who has just announced his candidacy for the Elysée, "starts from zero" on his political expertise and "has everything to prove" in the presidential campaign, judge Erwan Lestrohan, of the Odoxa polling institute.

Published on: 09/11/2026 - 16:40

Question: Can the candidacy of Teddy Riner, who is not a political insider, be well received by the French?

Answer: Teddy Riner is a French sports icon with extremely high popularity who is based on the values ​​of sport: excellence, discipline, fraternity, respect...

But this sympathy capital will not necessarily transform into electoral capital.

Because when they choose a president, the French decide on a presumed capacity to improve the country's situation in terms of purchasing power, international tensions, public debt, the level of education, public services...

So many subjects on which Teddy Riner is a profound blank slate for the French.

If he ranks very high on proximity to the French, he starts from zero on political credibility. Even by surrounding himself with experts, he will have to build this credibility in a short time. He is the unknown in the minds of the French, he has everything to prove.

Sympathy capital is not even essential. Emmanuel Macron was re-elected president in 2022 with a very low share of French people deeming him close to the people. But the presidential competence granted to him justified moving beyond this deteriorated relationship with the French.

Q: Does his candidacy show distrust of current candidates?

A: Yes, the specificity of this presidential election is that no one appeals to the majority of the French. There is even one in two French people who wish that the next president would not be among the current candidates.

In this context of very high distrust, logically a candidacy from civil society can have a certain audience among the French.

In absolute terms, the French regularly want candidates from civil society. But, once they are offered candidates, they still trust politicians more with their expertise.

For a civil society figure, a demonstration of political credibility is essential.

If we make a comparison with Tony Estanguet, who was very popular as an Olympic kayak champion, he also became popular in the political field after the Paris Olympics where he demonstrated his competence in managing an event, that is to say beyond the field of sport.

Q: He says he is neither left nor right. Would there be a space for him in the center, between Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Marine Le Pen?

A: Paradoxically, the risk is also to weaken the candidates who are best able to confront the National Rally, by eating away at votes on the left and right, by accentuating the dispersion of votes.

More and more athletes have invested in the field of social issues because we demand alignment of the personalities we support, the brands we buy with our societal values.

But the fight against the RN does not serve as a program. What worries the French most is purchasing power, access to healthcare, the quality of education, climate change...

It is on all these subjects that Teddy Riner's expertise will ultimately be scrutinized. The question is really the transformation of sympathy capital into electoral capital, and we often see it in opinion surveys, it is very complicated to construct.

© 2026 AFP

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