Following French Judo World Champion Teddy Riner’s Announcement of His Candidacy for the French Presidential Electionb
Friday 13/November/2026 - 03:25 PM
Paris | Dr. Ahmed Youssef
How Has President Macron Upended Every Calculation for the Upcoming Election?
Will the World Witness a French Version of Obama Next May?
Almost overnight, and just five months before it is due to take place, the upcoming French presidential election has been transformed from a circus whose program was known in advance into a theater brimming with surprises. This dramatic shift followed the announcement by Teddy Riner, the 37-year-old French international judo champion, of his desire to run in the forthcoming presidential election.
Riner enjoys overwhelming popularity, unmistakable charisma, and an almost universal consensus that he could emerge as the dark horse of the race (with absolutely no allusion intended to his skin color, given that he is of African descent and hails from Pointe-à-Pitre, the capital of the French territory of Guadeloupe, approximately 2,000 kilometers off the coast of Miami in the United States and some 6,750 kilometers from Paris).
Yet the man's greatest asset is neither his youth nor his determination to win in the wrestling arena, but rather his well-known friendship and exceptionally close relationship with President Macron.
It has become clear that the president, whom everyone believed was packing his bags to leave the Élysée Palace for good and was supposedly suffering from depression, had been quietly preparing this dark-skinned torpedo to turn the tables not only on all the presidential candidates—particularly the veteran far-right contender Marine Le Pen and her equally seasoned rival on the far left, Jean-Luc Mélenchon—but also on the various media outlets, public opinion polling organizations, and the analyses of France's political heavyweights.
Although all these parties have expressed cautious approval of Teddy Riner's candidacy (more out of necessity than genuine enthusiasm, given the man's popularity), and although the new candidate has yet to announce his electoral platform, it remains far from certain whether he will be able to secure the signatures of 500 mayors from villages and towns across France, as required by law to obtain his ticket into the electoral arena.
Nevertheless, it is evident that President Macron has made his preparations and taken the potential obstacles into account—not only the legal ones, but also the financial and administrative challenges. Indeed, individuals from the president's inner circle are reportedly working on the new candidate's campaign team.
The lingering question is this: Does Teddy Riner stand a chance of winning, and from which of the current candidates would he draw votes?
In my estimation, he could attract some of Jean-Luc Mélenchon's voters, particularly younger voters, in the first round of the election. Yet, in a dramatic turn, he might subsequently call upon his own supporters to cast their ballots for that very same Jean-Luc Mélenchon against Marine Le Pen, should the two manage to advance to the decisive second round on May 2.
Another question arises: Could we wake up in France on May 3 to find that the country has, for the first time in its history, elected a man of African descent as president? Could France replicate the American experience of Obama?
I would not rule it out. Such an outcome could offer the country a way to avert civil war should either of the two candidates currently favored in opinion polls—Marine Le Pen or her rival Jean-Luc Mélenchon—emerge victorious.
Moreover, this possibility could open the door to transforming the deeply entrenched political, social, and cultural algorithms that have governed France since the end of the Second World War, under the shadow of the Fifth Republic and its founder, the great General de Gaulle!
Napoleon Bonaparte, who came from Corsica—an island France had acquired from Genoa just one year before his birth—was once the object of widespread contempt and ridicule. He was merely a young man of 26, arriving from an impoverished colony and speaking French with a pronounced accent. Little did his detractors realize that he would transform France into an empire and bring the kingdoms of Europe to their knees!
We must therefore exercise the utmost caution when considering anything related to France's history and present-day realities.
In any event, it seems that, behind the curtains, a historical figure is playing a formidable role in these forthcoming presidential elections, which will determine France's future. That figure is none other than the cunning Italian Niccolò Machiavelli, who appears to have temporarily abandoned his tomb in Florence to take up residence in the Élysée Palace...
