France’s Olympic judo champion Teddy Riner  could have to undergo surgery on a painful shoulder injury next week, his coach told AFP yesterday.
Franck Chambily said Riner had a small piece of cartilage that was pushing on a tendon at the top of his left shoulder and causing the athlete pain.
“It’s better to remove it,” said Chambily, adding that a non-surgical technique would be tried first before resorting to surgery next week which could sideline the athlete for up to six weeks.
Riner pulled out of the Paris Grand Slam last weekend because of the problem.
The eight-time world champion, unbeaten in more than 100 bouts dating back to September 2010, will be bidding to defend his +100kg Olympic title in Rio de Janeiro in August.
Since the London Olympics in 2012, Riner, 26, has had a number of shoulder problems which saw him stop his season in 2013 and 2014 before undergoing an operation on an elbow in 2015.  
After a winter break, Riner had kick-started training in early January before attacking an Olympic season that was to see him compete in Paris and then go on to the European championships at the end of April.
“We have time,” insisted Chambily. “The objective once again is the Olympic Games. This hampers his preparations a bit. Obviously things could be better but everything will fall into place.”