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He Fled War To Become A Sumo Champion In Japan

Danylo Yavhusyshyn fled Ukraine after the Russian invasion in 2022 and moved to Germany to join his mother who had been working there, but instead of settling into a new life far from home, he pursued his childhood dream of becoming a professional sumo wrestler in Japan where he now goes by the name Aonishiki. The 5 foot 11 inch, 310 pound fighter has shocked the sumo world by rising through the ranks faster than almost anyone in the sport’s history, reaching ozeki which is the second highest rank after the immortal yokozuna level in just 14 tournaments over two years. Most wrestlers consider it a major achievement to reach the top division within five years, but Aonishiki accomplished this in only two years after winning his first championship in sumo’s lowest division back in 2023, leaving experts calling his rise unbelievable. As a child growing up in Vinnytsia, a city of around 350,000 in central Ukraine, Danylo was first exposed to sumo at age six during judo practice and became mesmerized as a preteen by a YouTube clip of a famous match between sumo legends Takanohana and Asashoryu.

He got his first taste of competing in Japan when he participated in the World Sumo Championships in Osaka in 2019, where he met a Japanese university sumo team captain who would later help him get to Japan in 2022 to pursue his dream professionally. Unlike many non Japanese wrestlers who rely on physical size and brute strength, Aonishiki has risen to the top through old school technique including crouching unusually low in the ring to maintain balance and mastering an array of twists, trips and throws gleaned from studying older wrestlers to overcome bigger opponents. His Japanese ring name combines the name of his stable master, the university friend who helped him find refuge in Japan, and the word for blue which is one of the colors of Ukraine’s flag. Five thousand miles from home with war still raging in his homeland, Aonishiki says he constantly hears from friends in Ukraine who have taken to following sumo results, and he hopes his achievements can stand as one more source of Ukrainian pride since the only way he can give back or make people happy is on the dohyo.

Source: https://www.wsj.com/sports/aonishiki-ukraine-japan-sumo-star-4e845df8?st=mpxAPL&mod=wsjreddit

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