French Olympic champion Teddy Riner recounted the origins of his conflict with Georgian Tushishvili on “Quels Jeux” on France 2.
A past that has resurfaced. Teddy Riner faced the Georgian Guram Tushishvili just after the Frenchman’s ippon, Friday August 2, in the quarter-finals. The Frenchman, in the second after his ippon over the Georgian Guram Tushishvili (29 years old, world number 4), perhaps leaned a little on his opponent to get back up.
A move that Tushishvili did not appreciate at all, who immediately pushed him away with his feet, propelling Riner to the ground. The Georgian then got on top of the 35-year-old triple Olympic champion, his finger raised. He ended up getting away, but the Guadeloupean held his leg, provoking a new impulsive reaction from the Georgian, who struggled with a hip thrust.
“He did a technique to do my cruciate ligaments”
Speaking to Léa Salamé in “Quels Jeux”, Teddy Riner admitted that he had “a big dispute” with the Georgian. “He did two things that are most regrettable for judo, he attacked me from behind after the checkmate and he used a technique to do the cruciate knees on me”he explained.
After winning the title on the Champ de Mars, facing the Eiffel Tower, Teddy Riner and the entire French Olympic judo champion team crossed Paris from South to North to be celebrated on Saturday by thousands of people at the jubilant Club France. “We saw the French judo team, a few meters away from us! We saw Teddy, we were there!” : the supporters can’t believe it.
Celebrated like a hero
At around 10:30 p.m., three and a half hours after winning Olympic gold for the second time, the Blues left their tatamis to join the Parc de la Villette, where Club France had set up camp.
On the outdoor stage, after a long wait, they were finally there. And the whole repertoire was there: “Go Blues!”; “Thank you Blues!”; “He who doesn’t jump is not French!”without forgetting the Marseillaise.
Each of the ten medallists had their moment, their first name chanted by the crowd, with a summary of this extraordinary week, the gold medallists at the end: Teddy Riner, crowned in the heavyweights on Friday, and the French team, victorious over Japan after an incredible comeback on Saturday.
