Sumo: after rapid progression, a young wrestler makes history by beating a 1914 record

L’exploit de Takerufuji (en violet) restera dans l’histoire. JIJI PRESS – JIJI PRESS

Un an et demi après ses débuts au sumo, le jeune lutteur Takerufuji a remporté la coupe de l’empereur. Une performance historique qui n’était plus arrivée depuis 110 ans.

A young sumo wrestler made history on Sunday by winning a major tournament just a year and a half after his debut in this Japanese discipline, the fastest rise ever observed , and also breaking another 110-year-old record.

Takerufuji, 24, brandished the Emperor's Cup at the end of the spring tournament in Osaka (west) after overcoming his rival Gonoyama, another star rising sumo. The victory of the 1.84 m and 143 kg colossus was anything but certain, after an ankle injury during his fight the day before, which forced him to return to the locker room in a wheelchair. rolling before being transported to the hospital to undergo examinations.

Et Takerufuji des mains du puissant pdt de la NSK (Nihon Sumo Kyokai) Asashifuji Seiya, reçoit la prestigieuse Coupe de l’empereur du harubasho24 👏👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/I3KbWLcO0u

— Hélène Pastore (@HelenePastore) March 24, 2024

"At that point, I’had given up all hope" to win the tournament, explained Monday during a press conference Takerufuji, who trains in the same heya or "stable" as the great champion ("yokozuna") Terunofuji, who himself was withdrawn due to injury.

But the yokozuna came to see me and said: you are capable of doing it. It’s not the record that counts, but the memory. It doesn't matter if you lose, this opportunity won't come again, Takerufuji remembered.

A record from another era

Since his first steps in September 2022 on the dohyo, the clay ring where the fights take place, Takerufuji, or Mikiya Ishioka of his real name, has crossed the five lower divisions at a staggering speed, suffering only 10 defeats in 79 fights. His victory after just 10 tournaments made him the fastest man in sumo history to lift the cup.

He is also the first newcomer to the top division to win a tournament there since 1914. The triumph of the young man from Aomori, in northern Japan, was so early that&rsquo ;he is also, according to the Japanese press, the first to win a tournament when his hair is not yet long enough to form the ceremonial bun "oicho" ("ginkgo"), so called because it resembles a leaf of this tree.

This positive news is welcome for the world of sumo, regularly shaken by scandals. Former yokozuna Hakuho was sanctioned last month for acts of violence committed by one of his disciples, who was himself excluded from the sport.

Last July, another former sumotori denounced mistreatment suffered for nearly eight years, with physical violence and regular bullying.