(Reuters) – French heavyweight judoka Teddy Riner collected a record-extending 11th world championship individual title on Saturday in Doha, beating Russian Inal Tasoev in the men’s +100kg final.
It was an auspicious showing for the 34-year-old a little more than a year ahead of the Paris Olympic Games, after Riner suffered a shock defeat in the 2020 Tokyo quarter-finals while on the hunt for a third straight Olympic gold in the +100kg division.
Riner, who helped France to collect the inaugural mixed team event gold at the Tokyo Olympics, overcame 2021 European champion Tasoev with a waza ari in a repeat of their 2021 Doha Masters final.
It was the 2.03-metre titan’s first world gold in six years after he opted out of the 2018 and 2019 editions and withdrew from the 2022 championships with an ankle injury.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; editing by Clare Fallon)
