Credit, Reuters
Other than an irresistible desire to pin an opponent to the ground, there is no obvious connection between politics and the world of high-level judo.
This did not stop French judoka Teddy Riner, world champion in the heavyweight category and holder of numerous medals, from launching his candidacy for the presidency of France in the elections held in April next year.
The 37-year-old politician, originally from Guadeloupe, a French overseas territory in the Caribbean, may have no experience in public office, no party behind him and, to date, no manifesto.
All he has said so far is the slogan "La France qu'on aime" (The France we love), a statement on social media and a campaign visit to a hospital in the suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis, north of Paris.
But it would be unwise for an expert to completely dismiss his chances.
After all, Riner is one of the most popular figures in contemporary France, regularly topping polls for personifying the nation's "values." He is a winner, with five Olympic gold medals and 11 world championships under his belt, as well as a successful career in the business world.
More than 28 million people watched his election broadcast on Instagram and YouTube, recorded with due presidential solemnity, against the backdrop of books and the French flag. Some 22% of respondents to an Ifop poll said in the next 24 hours that they "could" vote for him.
Credit, Getty Images
Actors and television personalities have become presidents in other countries. Liberia's former leader George Weah was previously a professional football player.
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So why not a judoka at the Élysée Palace?
"Anyone who thinks that the fact that Riner is outside the dominant political circle disqualifies him from running for the Élysée Palace is very mistaken," says journalist Guillaume Tabard, from the traditional newspaper Le Figaro.
"But [Riner] would also be wrong if he thought that not belonging to the select group was all that was needed."
For now, the entire French political world has decided to take Riner's candidacy seriously – or at least pretend to do so. This is partly because he is such a popular personality that ridiculing his political aspirations could easily have disastrous consequences.
But also because the state of French politics – outside of the emerging forces of the radical left and radical right – is one of total disarray.
The political center is in crisis, without a candidate capable of inspiring anything like the sense of mission of the leader of the radical right, Marine Le Pen, and Jean-Luc Mélenchon, of the radical left, who, for now, seem destined to face each other in the second round of the presidential election in May.
So when a popular figure like Riner enters the race – proclaiming himself "neither left nor right", wanting to "unite the country" and "put money back in people's pockets", criticizing "racists" and "vandals who scare people on our streets" in equal measure – politicians need to take this into account.
It is entirely possible, even likely, that Riner's campaign will dissipate after a brief period of euphoria and that the judoka will end up being just an ace up his sleeve. But it is also possible not, in which case the pre-election mathematics will need an urgent readjustment: and it will not be the centrists who will win.
So far, Riner has proven himself a master of the strategies required for this kind of sudden candidacy, the first of which is hammering home the message: "Don't worry! I'm NOT a politician!"
These days in France, anyone who shows that they are linked to the "system" is automatically devalued in the eyes of voters.
Therefore, it is important to emphasize that you are only applying because, first, you have experienced real life (unlike those "bums" in Paris); and second, you discovered that there are solutions to the country's many problems. Solutions that are invisible to these same limited-vision bureaucrats.
Riner managed to express all of this in a live broadcast on social media last Monday (9/11), using sophisticated rhetorical resources.
"People say I'm a fool for wanting to run for president," he said.
"Am I a fool? Well, if I refuse to see France sink under the weight of debt; if I refuse to see mothers and fathers gritting their teeth every time they do the week's shopping and trembling with fear when their children go out into the street... if all that means being a fool, then yes, call me a fool."
It was a promising start to the athlete's oratory, and it certainly attracted spectators.
But if he's serious – and Riner says he never does anything by halves, as that's not how he became an Olympic champion – then the hard work starts now.
What does Riner really want to do? Who will be on your team? What is your position on today's most important issues: pension reform, investment in education, cost of living, public debt, the rise of populism or Russia's war in Ukraine?
In short, how does he plan to turn his undeniable popularity as a sporting figure into a political mandate?
In general, Riner appears to be more to the right on economic and law and order issues, but, as a black and Caribbean native, he also stands firmly against racism. When he says he is against extremism, he is mainly referring to Marine Le Pen.
In other words, its positioning is somewhere in the center, and opposed to the extremes.
The problem is that this is already an extremely competitive area, with important figures such as former prime ministers Edouard Philippe and Gabriel Attal failing to take off in the polls.
Currently, there are around a dozen candidates in the zone between the center-right and center-left, ranging from Raphaël Glucksman, supported by the socialists, to Bruno Retailleau, from the Republicans, on the right.
The latest possible addition to the role is Christine Lagarde, who will step down as president of the European Central Bank next February.
Credit, Pool/AFP via Getty Images
The addition of yet another competitor will further dilute his poll numbers, making Mélenchon's qualification for the second round more likely.
It's no wonder, then, that the leader of the France Insubmissa (LFI) party seemed so pleased with Riner's decision to run. "We know how it works: neither right nor left means not being left," Mélenchon told reporters on Friday.
The only other politician who appears genuinely pleased, rather than sporting a forced smile, is President Emmanuel Macron, who said Riner was a "great champion" and that politics "does not belong to professionals."
This can be explained by the president's cool relationship with his former prime ministers, Philippe and Attal, who are doing everything possible to distance themselves from their unpopular former boss.
Riner said he considered Macron's praise a "poisoned chalice", telling journalists on Saturday (14/11) that "I was not the president's envoy, I am not a Macronist".
Politics and judo have very little in common, but, as Riner will soon discover, the cruelest of the two is not the one that is resolved hand to hand after mutual recognition on the mat.
In Japanese, judo literally means "the gentle way".
If he starts to look like a serious contender, Riner needs to know that his life will be turned upside down, not just his body.
In politics, you don't bow out of respect for your opponent. You give him a metaphorical headbutt.
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