INQUIRER Sports

ROME -- Teenager Teddy Riner's meteoric rise to the top of the judo world would be complete if the Guadeloupe-born Frenchman were to land an Olympic title in Beijing in August.

Riner is nothing short of a freak of nature, standing at 2.04 meters tall and weighing 129 kilograms. He has not an ounce of fat on him.

But while his physique is impressive, even more so has been his spectacular introduction into the sport's top level of comeptition in the blue-riband heavyweight division.

Riner was a virtual unknown at the beginning of 2007, although tongues had started wagging about his potential after he ended his 2006, at the tender age of just 17, by winning both Junior European and Junior World gold medals.

He followed that up with a podium finish at the prestigious Super World Cup in Paris in February 2007 before also claiming a bronze medal at the Hamburg Super World Cup tournament.

More was to follow as he won the European title in May that year and then turned up at the World Championships in Rio de Janeiro in September with a rapidly growing reputation.

There he didn't just win, he beat the sport's top draw and biggest star Kosei Inoue of Japan before beating the rugged Russian Tamerlan Tmenov in the final.

Riner, at 18 years of age, had not just become world champion, he had beaten the very best of his direct rivals and there could be no question about his talent.

He won the Paris tournament earlier this year, again beating Inoue to prove his first victory was no fluke before he showed himself as human when failing to win a medal at Hamburg.

Even so, he had said after his Paris victory that his focus was on one thing alone: "I have only Beijing in my head and I now know what needs to be done to be ready."

And it is at the Olympics that legacies are really made. Despite all his success so far, if Riner wants to become as big a star as one of his French predecessors David Douillet, it is only with Olympic victory that he can achieve that.

Douillet was for a time France's best known and most loved sportsman, before Zinedine Zidane overtook that mantle.

But Douillet had achieved his status by twice winning Olympic gold and for Riner to match his lofty standing, it is in Beijing that he needs to perform.

Since Zidane's retirement after his infamous headbutt in the 2006 World Cup final, France has been without an obvious sporting successor to hold dearest in its collective heart.

Franck Ribery or even swimmer Laure Manaudou are both potential darlings but Ribery will not be at the Olympics and Manaudou's life has become something of a soap-opera since her Italian escapades.

So the stage is set for Riner to step into the breach.

It won't be easy of course as there are a number of tough and talented heavyweights standing in his way.

Not least is the veteran Tmenov, the silver medalist in Athens four years ago and a bronze medalist in Sydney.

He is far shorter than many other heavyweights and considerably lighter but possesses incredible strength and stunning technique - his one Achilles heel, though, is he almost always loses to Japanese.

Japan will be fielding their new star, 21-year-old Satoshi Ishii, whose victory at the Japanese championships and subsequent qualification for the Olympics signaled the end of the great Inoue's top level career.

But his head coach Hitoshi Saito knows that Riner is clearly the man to beat, saying earlier this year: "No doubt Riner stands out as a great wall. It's hard to guess how much he may have grown in half a year."

It is certain that Riner has grown physically and technically over the last six months and now the great wall of Guadeloupe is seeking to conquer China and cement his fame legacy before he even turns 20.