French Judo superstar Teddy Riner says will run for president

about Teddy Riner, announcing that he's running for president here in France. 37-year-old, five-time Olympic judo gold medalist, 11-time judo world champion. He's long been one of the most popular faces in France. Teddy announced his bid on social media under the slogan, La France qu'on veut, the France we want. It appears he has liberal economic views. He says he's positioning himself as neither right-wing nor left-wing. And Teddy says he's aware of the social tensions running through the country and they can't accept young people and old generations saying they are struggling to imagine a future for themselves. His stance on world issues is not yet clear, but he is dead set against racism. Here's Olivia Salazar-Winspear. My name is Teddy Riner and today I'm telling you this face to face. I'm a candidate in the 2027 presidential election. Standing behind a desk with the French flag, Teddy Riner adopted all the traditional codes of a presidential candidate. But the 11-time world judo champion is positioning himself as a political outsider, stating he will transcend traditional left-right divisions. I know what people are going to say about me. He's crazy, he's an outsider, he doesn't know the ropes, he's never been involved in politics. But ask yourself this with me. What is crazy these days? Is it crazy to refuse to watch France crumble a little more each day under the weight of debt? To see such a rich country become so poor? Is it crazy to find it unbearable that a father or mother has to grit their teeth while filling their shopping cart? While Riner doesn't yet have a formal campaign team, he says he's already surrounded by former ministers, civil servants and figures from civil society. However, political experts note the massive hurdles ahead, including securing the mandatory 500 signatures from elected officials and millions of euros in campaign financing. The heavyweight champion says he will now head out onto the campaign trail to meet voters across France. Despite his political ambitions, Riner insists he hasn't closed the door on competing at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games. I just had a vision there of Teddy Riner, the judo player, taking on Vladimir Putin, who fancies himself as a judo player. That could be quite fun. Yves Saint-Omer is with is with us, professor of political science at Université Paris 8, Yves. I hope you heard that little report and obviously we know Teddy Riner. Do you take seriously his declaration to be a candidate? I mean the crisis of the political system in France is so huge that an outsider could have an impact. To some extent Macron himself 10 years ago was an outsider in the political system but It's not enough to be an outsider, to make impression. You also have to have people that follow you and help you. Macron and the finance, and a lot of politicians from the center-left and the center-right, and I have a doubt that it will be the same with this famous judo player. Isn't that fame that Teddy Riner has something that could be used politically if there was the right arrangement, the right structure behind him? Yes, but he will face a lot of oppositions and I have a strong doubt that he will be able to have political and social forces enough to go very far in this competition. This said, everything is open, and as I said previously, the crisis of the political system is so important that a lot of things can happen. Isn't the middle ground, which I think that's where he would probably end up, isn't the middle ground crying out though for that one personality who becomes the identity of that amorphous mass of political views? It is clear that the middle ground at the time being has no incarnation, no convincing incarnation. This said, there are so many people in the middle ground who think that they are in the incarnation that it will be difficult for him to just come and impose himself. In addition, he is a black person, and I'm not sure France is ready, unfortunately. to have a black president and well, I think this is it. I think the obstacles are so huge that it will be difficult. Yves Saint-Amé of Université Paris VIII, professor of political science, thank you very much indeed for your insight. Thank you for joining us. We appreciate your time.