'Big Teddy' Riner guns for third judo gold on home soil

PARIS : All eyes will be on the judo competition when French heavyweight Teddy Riner bids for a third individual Olympic gold medal and it could end up being one of the highlights of the Paris Games.

Every Olympics has an iconic moment from a home athlete and, although the French will be hoping for plenty of contenders, another gold at his fourth Games for the man known as "Big Teddy" would be right up there.

The 35-year-old won his 11th individual world title in Doha last year and another gold in Paris would see him match the record of Japan's Tadahiro Normura, who won successive Olympic extra lightweight titles in 1996, 2000 and 2004.

"Having the Olympics at home is what motivates me. It is magical and it brings a lot of emotion", Riner told reporters in February after winning the Paris Grand Slam.

Riner, who was born in Guadeloupe but grew up in the French capital, already shares the record for most Olympic medals in judo with Japan's Ryoko Tani having also won two individual bronzes and a mixed team gold in Tokyo.

His Tokyo bronze came after one of only a handful of losses over a career that has spanned 15 years, a stunning upset at the hands of Russian Tamerlan Bashaev in the quarter-finals.

Riner is undefeated since failing to retain the Olympic title, his focus firmly fixed on the competition at Paris's Grand Palais, renamed the Champ de Mars Arena for the Games, which run from July 27 to Aug. 3.

In June, Riner won the Madrid Open in Spain for what should be his last competition before he takes to the tatami at the Olympics in August.

THIRD GOLD

Czech Lukas Krpalek will also be chasing a third individual gold medal in Paris after winning the half heavyweight title in Rio and taking advantage of Riner's absence from the