Key facts
- Riner, 37, has no experience of public office, no party behind him and as yet no manifesto, the report said.
- More than 28 million people watched Riner's election broadcast on Instagram and X, the report said.
- An Ifop poll within 24 hours found 22% of respondents said they could vote for Riner.
- Riner has won five Olympic golds and 11 world championships, and the report cites a business career.
- Mélenchon told reporters on Friday that neither right nor left means not left.
- Riner told reporters on Saturday he was not the president's envoy and not a Macronist.
Teddy Riner, a five-times Olympic champion judoka, declared his candidacy for France's presidential election in April 2027 in a social media broadcast on Monday, November 9, 2026, according to a report published November 15, 2026. The Guadeloupe-born 37-year-old has no experience of public office, no party behind him and as yet no manifesto, the report said. His campaign so far consists of a slogan, La France qu'on aime (The France we love), the social media declaration and a visit to a hospital in the Seine-Saint-Denis suburb of northern Paris.
The report said more than 28 million people had watched his election broadcast on Instagram and X, and that 14.5 million of the views were on Instagram alone. An Ifop poll within 24 hours found 22% of respondents said they could vote for him, the report said.
Riner has won five Olympic golds and 11 world championships, and the report said he also has a business career. He has described himself as neither left nor right, saying he wants to unite the country and put money back in people's pockets, and has spoken against racists and against what he called yobs who scare people off the streets.
Guillaume Tabard of Le Figaro told the outlet that anyone who thinks being outside the political in-crowd disqualifies Riner would be very wrong, but that Riner too would be wrong if he thought not belonging to the in-crowd was all it takes. The report said the French centre ground is floundering, with no candidate yet emerging to match the sense of mission of hard-right leader Marine Le Pen and Jean-Luc Mélenchon on the hard left, who for now look set to face off in the final round in May.
Mélenchon told reporters on Friday: "We know how it goes: neither right nor left means not left." President Emmanuel Macron said Riner was a "great champion" and that politics "did not belong to the professionals". Riner said he viewed Macron's praise as a "poisoned chalice", telling reporters on Saturday: "not the president's envoy, I'm not a Macronist".
The report said a dozen or so candidates sit between centre right and centre left, from the Socialist-backed Raphaël Glucksman to the Republicans' Bruno Retailleau, and that Christine Lagarde, who steps down as head of the European Central Bank in February, is the latest possible addition.