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Gold medalist France’s Teddy Riner poses on the podium of the judo men’s +100 kg event in the team judo competition, at Champ-de-Mars Arena, during the 2024 Summer Olympics, August 2, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

PARIS (AFP) — France’s five-time Olympic judo champion Teddy Riner announced Monday that he would run in next year’s presidential election, after expressing concern about the “rise of the far right.”

“My name is Teddy Riner and today, I am telling you face to face: I am a candidate in the 2027 presidential election,” the 37-year-old said in a surprise announcement on social media.

Riner, one of the greatest judokas in history, said in a video that he feared France could soon become deeply divided, appearing to cast himself as a candidate for voters unwilling to choose between two political extremes — the far right and the far left.

Far-right candidate Marine Le Pen is leading in the polls to replace centrist President Emmanuel Macron next year, with…