One of the sport's longest winning runs came to an end on Sunday when two-time Olympic and eight-time judo world champion Teddy Riner was beaten for the first time in over nine years.
After 154 successive wins, the 30-year-old Frenchman, who competes in the 100-kilogramme heavyweight category, was beaten by ippon by the Japanese Kokoro Kageura in the third round of the Paris Grand Slam.
Riner's last defeat was back in September 2010 when he was controversially beaten by another Japanese Daiki Kamikaw in the open weight final at the world championships in Tokyo.
The defeat comes five months before the Tokyo Olympics when Riner will hope to emulate the lightweight judoka Tadahiro Nomura in winning gold at three successive Olympics.
Published 09 February 2020, 13:55 IST