autotroph

Long live the King!

In addition to staying one off the pace, I'm very happy to see Takakeisho put up a proper Ozeki record for the first time. Earning the rank, losing it (through injury), earning it back but getting another injury: a tough few basho! The Orbular One's iron will is an inspiration.

I am going to be a pedant here and point out that I said "if he has detached his pectoral" - wasn't his injury a tear of the muscle belly, rather than a full detachment? Still a serious injury, of course.

If he has actually detached his pectoral his career is over without surgery. Even with surgery, you would typically be prescribed recovery time on the order of 6 months. This can probably be reduced by 4 to 6 weeks by taking advantage of the drug-test-free sumo environment, but that would still see him lose his rank. Heartbreaking, I really like the guy. As someone else said about sumo success "deserve has nothing to do with it".

According to this query, the 17th and 20th Yokozuna were both shorter than him by 5cm.

Poignant moment watching Tomokaze after his win. Very happy for him.

Salute to Fiesty Yoshikaze! Those of us who enjoy honest sumo deployed with indomitable spirit have lost a good man today.

It would be great if someone with more knowledge of sumo and Japanese society as a whole comment could on this. From my naive and ignorant viewpoint it seems absurd that they could deny him that (modulo his acquiring Japanese citizenship). EDIT: the 'more' above means more than me. I didn't mean to imply that I wanted someone more knowledgeble than Akinomaki

Tough to watch :( Has an ambulatory rikishi ever forfeited a redo?

Another member from the North East?

I agree there are bad referee decisions in every sport. What I meant was that in other sports very bad or controversial decisions have the chance to be addressed by committees, other refs, yadda yadda yadda. For example, in rugby, if a player was to punch another and it was missed during the game, at any time the governing body can review the video evidence and issue a punishment. In sumo, decisions like this are instantly concretised and will now stand until the ice caps melt. There is no recourse or appeal in any way. If the judges are reprimanded it will occur behind closed doors and nothing but rumour or conjecture will reach the surface. That's just the way it is.

What a bloody day! I am in utter disbelief. Another reminder that if you try to think of sumo in the same way as other sports, you'll have a bad time. I hope very desperately that Tochinoshin can get his 10. As others have said, it's sad that this will inevitably overshadow Asanoyama's yusho, if he claims it.

Thanks so much!

I apologise if I have missed an obvious source of this information. I have noticed ranks such as O2eHD and Ms10TD on the database recently. They do not appear on the legend (or if they do I can't work it out). What do they mean?

Anyone who's spent enough time at a bodybuilding gym knows what they are. Those marks are scar tissue from injecting (slang "pinning") PEDs. The glutes and inner thigh are popular sites for this. I presume those square plasters are covering some of the fresher ones. There is a very good photo of a former Mr Olympia about to go on stage with a backside that looks identical to Tochinoshin's, but it's eluding me at the moment... (For the record I have no problem with an informed consenting adult using PEDs, and I am not attacking Tochinoshin. There are many PEDs that do not require pinning, too.)