“Paris, I don’t do it”, Teddy Riner renounces the Paris Grand Slam and will have elbow surgery

Teddy Riner, winner of the Champions League with PSG on Saturday, will ultimately not compete in the Paris Judo Grand Slam in February and will have elbow surgery at the start of the year, he announced on Saturday. Montpellier.

“I'm telling you, I don't do Paris. Because I'm not ready, that's not the objective of the season and because at the start of the year, in two or three weeks, heading to the operating room for injuries that I should have fixed before and that I kept waiting for the Champions League. As soon as I recover from the operation, I will attack again”he declared.

“I can’t anymore, it hurts too much”

The French Judo Federation announced Riner's participation in the prestigious Grand Slam in Paris on Monday, but the 35-year-old Guadeloupean finally had to cancel his appearance. “I had thought that (I could participate), but the medical staff called me to order. I have to head to the operating room to fix my elbow which has been injured for far too long now. We're going to stop pulling on the rope if I want to make it to the Los Angeles Olympics.”in 2028.

Riner had already undergone surgery on his right elbow in 2015 before the Rio Games, but further surgery was essential, he explained. “I’ve had to have this elbow operated on for seven years. I pulled on it and there it was, I can't do it anymore, it hurts too much.”emphasized Riner.

“Each time, I had a physiotherapist or an osteologist who put it back in place for me during each training session or after each competition, or we tried to find techniques to strap it so that it wouldn’t come out”he added. “So that’s it, today, we have to take the bull by the horns, we have to go, that’s all”. Riner made his return to competition on Saturday for the Champions League contested with his club PSG, the five-time Olympic champion winning his only fight for his return to competition five months after the Paris Games.