The Teddy Riner presidential bid was announced on Monday, when the five time Olympic judo champion said he will run in France’s 2027 presidential election. Riner, 37, released a video on social media and gave an interview to the newspaper Le Parisien. He said he is neither left wing nor right wing, and he wants to prevent an extreme right victory in the election. President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the announcement, and he praised Riner as a tremendous athlete who makes the country proud.
The Teddy Riner presidential bid comes from the most decorated judoka in Olympic history. Riner has won five Olympic gold medals and two bronze medals, with three individual heavyweight titles in 2012, 2016 and 2024 and team gold medals in 2020 and 2024. He has also won 11 world titles. Born in Guadeloupe, he stands 2.03 metres tall and weighs about 140 kilograms, and he helped light the Olympic cauldron at the Paris 2024 Games. He is the most decorated French Olympian of the Summer Games.
Teddy Riner presidential bid and the 500 signatures
The Teddy Riner presidential bid faces a practical hurdle before a single voter sees his name on a ballot paper. French law requires a candidate to collect 500 sponsorship signatures from elected officials, drawn from at least 30 departments or overseas territories. The collection opens when voters are formally convened on 7 February and closes on Friday 12 March 2027 at 6 p.m. The Constitutional Council publishes the official list of candidates by 26 March. Riner has no party machine behind him, and the party he is running under, La France qu’on veut, was founded on Monday.
Riner said his decision dates to the Paris Olympics, when he watched the country unite and then divide again within weeks. He told Le Parisien he will not accept being called just an athlete who is expected to step on the podium without having a say in anything else. He said his decision is carefully considered, and he is running to say that France can be rebuilt. In the video he said, face to face: ‘My name is Teddy Riner, and today I tell you face to face, I am a candidate for the 2027 presidential election.’
Teddy Riner presidential bid enters a crowded race
The Teddy Riner presidential bid enters a race that has been shaping up as a contest between political extremes. National Rally leader Marine Le Pen leads early opinion polls, with the latest RTL poll putting her at 34 to 36 percent of first round voting intentions, and radical left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon behind her at 18 to 19 percent. Macron cannot seek a third term under constitutional rules, and the vote to replace him is due in two rounds on 18 April and 2 May 2027. Thirty two people had already declared by the middle of October, including two former prime ministers under Macron.
Analysts call the Teddy Riner presidential bid a long shot. He has no political experience and no party backing, and his policy platform remains a blank slate, according to pollster Erwan Lestrohan of Odoxa, who noted that his high popularity might not immediately translate into electoral capital. His political team said an expert drafted program is already complete, and his campaign website runs under the slogan ‘La France qu’on veut’, the France we want. A Harris Interactive poll in June 2025 found 18 percent of French voters said they could vote for him if the election were held that Sunday.
Teddy Riner presidential bid and Los Angeles 2028
The Teddy Riner presidential bid will not end his sporting career, at least if he has his way. Riner said he still intends to compete at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, if the office allows it and if the French allow him, and he wants to win a fourth individual gold medal there. He has said he wants to end his career with that medal, and he told Le Parisien the presidency would not stop him preparing for the Games. The campaign and the training will run side by side for the next 18 months, and the voters will decide whether the two can go together.
The Teddy Riner presidential bid is the most surprising entry of the 2027 race so far, and it has put a sports star at the centre of a political debate. Macron welcomed him into that debate, and the polls will soon show whether the welcome is shared by voters. Riner needs 500 signatures first, and the collection opens in February. Until then, the judoka will keep training, and the candidate will keep campaigning.