This poll could propel Teddy Riner towards the presidential election
A Teddy Riner in a suit, descending the stairs of the Élysée Palace to welcome US President Donald Trump... Can you imagine the image? We'll grant you, we're getting a little excited, but seeing Teddy Riner in politics in the coming years isn't entirely impossible, and he himself has announced that this world could interest him.
"But why always reduce the athlete to sport? Do you see the champion that I am? If I entered politics tomorrow, it wouldn't be to be Minister of Sports," the judoka declared on BFMTV, during an interview. Teddy Riner "is not closing any doors," and could burst onto the political scene in a few months or years, as David Douillet did at the end of his career.
The story doesn't end with one or two empty statements. A survey by Harris Interactive for CommStrat and the media outlet L'Opinion last June measured Teddy Riner's electoral potential, and the results are truly surprising. When asked "If the next presidential election in France were held this Sunday, would you vote for each of the following people?", 18% of those surveyed voted for Teddy Riner.
A particularly high score, which would place him ahead of politicians like Jean-Luc Mélenchon, chosen by 16% of those polled. It is, moreover, a left-wing electorate that seems to be convinced by the judoka, particularly after his statements against the ban on wearing the veil in sport.
If we go into a little more detail, he is on a par with a certain Eric Zemmour, but finds himself behind former presidents Hollande and Sarkozy (19 and 20%) and remains very far from the extreme right which propels Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella to 38 and 39%. But where the poll is interesting about Teddy Riner is that he has, with 38%, the 3rd greatest potential among young people aged 18 to 24 behind Jean-Luc Mélenchon (45%) and Jordan Bardella (40%) and the 5th among 25-34 year olds (31%). On the other hand, the older the age, the fewer the votes.
And if he were to risk diving into the deep end of politics, this choice will not surprise the president of the French Judo Federation. "We told him, you couldn't be a business leader. He became a great business leader. (...) We told him, you couldn't be a ten-time world champion. He was more than that. We told him, five Olympic gold medals in judo, you're dreaming. He has five. It's true that he didn't have a great education, but he's extraordinary," he said. So politics may be, but not right away, because Teddy Riner is still aiming for one last victory in Los Angeles at the 2028 Olympics.
L'Internaute
