The French judoka Teddy Riner is 6-foot-8, weighs 300(ish) pounds and once went a very, very, very, very, very, very, very (very) long time without losing, a stretch of supremacy that launched him into a realm of renown in France generally occupied by soccer stars, fashion doyennes and philosophers.
His visage adorns front pages and magazine covers. He has modeled outfits by Balenciaga and Dolce & Gabbana for GQ France. At the opening ceremony, Riner was one of two athletes conferred with the ultimate honor of lighting the cauldron.
On Friday, Riner competed in the final match of his fifth Games, the first staged in his hometown, and from the second he was introduced until the second he walked off the tatami mat, the crowd at Champs De Mars Arena did not cheer for him so much as drench him in love.
Facing the No. 1-seeded judoka in the +100kg weight class, Kim Minjong of South Korea, Riner waited and waited, as if lingering for a precise moment. Then it came. He kicked out his right leg, turning Kim parallel to the mat and in one fluid motion yanked him onto his back for an ippon, the highest score a fighter can achieve and an automatic victory.
His gold medal secured, Riner windmilled his fist. He fell to his knees. He held up three fingers — one for each individual Olympic gold medal.
In all, Riner, 35, now has six Olympic medals, in addition to the, say it with me, ee-LEH-ven individual world championship titles. No one in the sport can claim his résumé — which includes that 154-match winning streak, spanning nearly a decade — or his popularity, and it is going to be quite a while before someone even comes close.
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