When Teddy Riner steps onto the tatami, he carries with him not just years of physical training, but a mental fortress carefully constructed since adolescence. The French judoka, widely considered one of the greatest of all time with three individual Olympic gold medals and eleven world championship titles, has made a remarkable admission: sport psychology accounts for an estimated 60 to 70 percent of his success.
“If you had to tell me how much of a percentage he played in winning this medal, I would say, modestly, 60 to 70%,”
Riner stated in a new interview when discussing the contribution of his mental and physical trainer, Julien Corvau, to his Paris 2024 Olympic triumph. This isn’t hyperbole from an athlete caught in the moment—it’s a calculated assessment from someone who has made mental preparation a cornerstone of his approach since the age of fourteen.
Riner’s journey with sport psychology began when he entered France’s national training institute as a young cadet. Thrust into training with adult members of the French team, he found himself not being nurtured as promised, but rather “made miserable” by senior athletes. The psychological toll of this experience, combined with the pressure of being labeled “the future,” led him to seek help from a psychologist—a decision that would prove transformative.
“I went to see a psychologist to prepare for my competitions because I didn’t want to be unable to exploit what I do best if the pressure came on,”
Riner explained. This wasn’t just about managing stress; it was about learning to harness his abilities when it mattered most, to become “an actor in your match and not a spectator.”
The mental work extended beyond competition preparation. As Riner’s career progressed and success accumulated, his psychologist helped him navigate the complexities of fame and expectation, supporting him to
“grow up well in my shoes, become the man I have become today, multi-faceted.”
What makes Riner’s approach particularly noteworthy is his willingness to destigmatize mental health support in sports. In France, where psychological assistance often carries negative connotations, Riner actively reframes the conversation.
“I often tell people to replace the word psychologist with therapist, a friend, someone you go to confess to,”
he suggests.
“This will help you grow, mature, and make good decisions.”
His current collaboration with Corvau represents the evolution of this mental approach into a holistic performance system. Corvau doesn’t just focus on physical conditioning; he works to understand Riner’s doubts, fears, and thought processes to create the optimal mental state—one where
“defeat is not forbidden, but he cannot lose.”
The method combines determination with relaxation, intensity with enjoyment.
“For me, these are the two combinations that make an athlete achieve higher performance,”
Corvau notes. Before matches, he helps Riner reach a state of focused calm, erasing doubts while maintaining confidence.
Riner’s mental preparation extends to his pre-competition mindset.
“Every time I step onto a mat, I have to accept before even stepping on, even if I’m a bad player, that you can win or lose,”
he explains.
“Now it’s up to you to decide what will happen in your scenario.”
This acceptance, paradoxically, removes pressure and allows him to perform freely.
Riner’s emphatic endorsement of sports psychology stands in stark contrast to skepticism within the grappling community. Renowned Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu coach John Danaher has publicly dismissed sports psychology as a “scam industry,” arguing during an appearance on the Lex Fridman Podcast that true confidence stems from actual success in practice not motivational talk.
“I’m going to say something controversial here… People are gonna hate it. I think it [sports psychology] is a total scam industry,”
Danaher stated. He criticized the idea of instilling confidence through words alone:
“Whenever you use words as the basis of your confidence, when you get up on the stage and you get punched in the face or picked up and slammed on your head… all that confidence is going to run right out of your a**hole.”
The divergence between these two perspectives highlights an important nuance: Riner’s approach to sports psychology isn’t about empty motivation or confidence manufactured from thin air. Instead, it represents a sophisticated framework for processing adversity, managing expectations, navigating elite-level pressure, and optimizing the mental state needed to execute skills that were already honed through rigorous physical training.
