Takerufuji
, a young 24-year-old wrestler, entered sumo history after winning a major tournament on Sunday just a year and a half after beginning to dedicate himself to this Japanese discipline, in the fastest rise of this sport,
breaking a record of more than 110 years
.
This 1.84m, 143kg colossus won the
Emperor's Cup
at the end of the spring tournament in Osaka on Sunday, defeating
Gonoyama
, another rising sumo star, in the final.
Takerufuji's victory is even more surprising because of the way it happened, since after injuring his ankle the day before, the fighter had to return to the locker room in a wheelchair and undergo medical examinations at a hospital.
"
At that moment I abandoned any hope of winning the tournament
," the wrestler, who trains alongside the great champion 'yokozuna' (highest rank received by sumo wrestlers)
Terunofuji
, commented this Monday at a press conference , who was absent. of the tournament due to an injury.
He did it!
Congratulations to Takerufuji on his historic sumo wrestling victory.
pic.twitter.com/1VOPYxl2c0 https://t.co/ZX5KNABKEm
— Jeffrey J. Hall 🇯🇵🇺🇸 (@mrjeffu) March 24, 2024
But "the yokozuna came and told me: 'You can do it.
It's not the record that counts, but the memory
. It's okay if you lose, but you won't have a chance like that again,'" Takerufuji explained.
Since his first steps in September 2022 on a 'dohyo', the clay ring where the fights take place,
Mikiya Ishioka
(the fighter's real name) has gone through the five lower divisions at a dizzying speed, with only 10 defeats in 79 fights.
His title in just 10 tournaments made him
the fastest wrestler to lift a cup
and the first to do so as a debutant in the top category since 1914.
The triumph of the young man from
Aomori
(northern Japan) was so fast that according to the country's press,
he is the first fighter to win a major tournament without still having hair long enough to make an 'oicho'
, the typical hairstyle of the sumo practitioners.
A celebrity: Takerufuji broke a 110-year-old record.Photo: AFP
This news is welcome in the sumo world, regularly shaken by scandals.
Former yokozuna
Hakuho
was sanctioned last month for acts of violence committed by one of his disciples, also excluded from this sport.
In July last year, another former sumotori reported having suffered mistreatment for eight years.
Source: AFP