Riner has been drawn against Romania’s Vladut Simionescu in the opening round of the men’s over-100 kilograms category and will need to win six fights to clinch an 11th world title in Qatari capital Doha.

It will be Riner’s 11th outing at a World Championships and first since 2017, with an ankle injury ruling him out of last year’s edition in Tashkent.

Riner marked his return to action with victory in the Paris Judo Grand Slam in February and will be aiming for individual success again in Doha.

"The ankle is holding up well," said Riner in a report by French newspaper L’Equipe.

"I’m happy, everything is fine.

"I am going to mention a small late injury but are we going to talk about a finger ligament?

"No.

"It won’t prevent anything.

"Otherwise, the legs, the upper body, everything is fine."

Riner is expected to face competition from Tajikistan’s world number one Temur Rakhimov as well as Uzbekistan’s Alisher Yusupov, Cuba’s Andy Granda, Mongolia’s Tsetsentsengel Odkhuu and Japan’s Tatsuru Saito who are seeded in the top five.

The 34-year-old could also come up against Russian Tamerlan Bashaev - a judoka that stunned Riner in the quarter-finals of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Bashaev is one of 17 Russian judoka that are competing in Doha after being cleared by the International Judo Federation (IJF) to compete as individual neutral athletes.

Three of them line-up in the men’s under-100kg division, with Niiaz Iliasov, Arman Adamian and Adrian Khankan all set to fight.

Should Adamian win his opener with Algeria’s Mustapha Yasser Bouamar, he could meet Khankan in an all-Russian second-round battle.

Two Belarusians are also due to feature as neutrals, with Yahor Varapayeu contesting the men’s under-90kg category and Darya Kantsavaya participating in the women’s under-78kg class.

The inclusion of Russian and Belarusian judoka comes after the IJF Executive Committee ruled on April 29 to allow them to return as individual neutral athletes.

Eight members of the delegation put forward by Russia were denied participation by the IJF after independent background checks were carried out in a bid to ensure no public support for the war in Ukraine.

However, the decision to readmit athletes from Russia and Belarus resulted in the Ukrainian Judo Federation boycotting the World Championships.

Speaking at today's official draw for Doha 2023, IJF President Marius Vizer insisted that the event’s "message is for peace in the world".

A total of 343 men and 314 women from 99 countries are set to compete across 14 weight categories at the event, scheduled to run from tomorrow until May 14.

Japan topped the medal table at last year’s World Championships with six gold medals and are fielding a strong team featuring Naohisa Takato, Hifumi Abe, Natsumi Tsunoda, Uta Abe and Megumi Horikawa who will be aiming to retain their respective titles.

Double Olympic champion Clarisse Agbégnénou of France is also back at the World Championships after missing Tashkent 2022 due to the birth of her first child last June.

The Frenchwoman is aiming to win a sixth women’s under-63kg crown where she is expected to face stiff tests from Britain’s top seed Lucy Renshall and defending champion Horikawa.

"I am still looking for my true level," said Agbégnénou in a report by French newspaper Ouest.

"I feel like I’m still a bit of the mark, I have some adjustments to make but I did some training and it did me good.

"I’m confident."

Competition is due to start tomorrow with the men’s under-60kg and women’s under-48kg categories set to be contested.