French heavyweight judoka Teddy Riner claimed his 10th world title with victory at the openweight world championships in Marrakech on Saturday.

The 28-year-old from Guadeloupe notched up his 144th consecutive win by beating Belgian Toma Nikiforov in the final.

"The tenth is something symbolic, it's the ten fingers, the two hands, it's also joining the pantheon of the big names in sport," said Riner.

Riner, who weighed in at 142kg, was far too good for his opponent, who usually competes in the -100kg category.

The Olympic champion claimed his ninth gold medal at the world championships in Budapest two months ago, having already become the most successful judoka of all-time with his eighth title in 2015.

He has not tasted defeat since losing in the final of the openweight championships to Japanese fighter Daiki Kamikawa in September 2010, and will now turn his focus back to his main aim of winning a third straight Olympic +100kg gold in Tokyo in 2020.

source: AFP