TOKYO (AP) — Danilo Yavhushyshyn left his native Ukraine 3 1/2 years ago — just after Russia launched a full-scale invasion — and has risen rapidly to stardom in Japan as one of the top sumo wrestlers.
He’s so good that three months ago the 21-year-old defeated one of the sport’s top wrestlers.
This was not just any top wrestler. He beat Mongolian-born Hoshoryu who, with Japanese-born Onosato, is one of the two highest-ranked wrestlers in Japan. They both carry the title of grand champion — or yokozuna.
Yavhushyshyn now goes by the Japanese ring name of Aonishiki Arata and, at a news conference on Thursday, he chose to speak almost exclusively about his rise in the sport.
Some high-profile Ukrainians abroad openly appeal for support for the war. But Aonishiki stuck to sports.
Aonishiki, who is now part of the highly regimented world of sumo, talked mostly about his eating and training habits, learning Japanese, and being exposed to sumo as a 6-year-old in his home town of Vinnytsia in west central Ukraine.
“My country is in a very difficult circumstance, however, I am a sumo wrestler so I would like to speak about sumo,” he said speaking Japanese, a language he has picked up rapidly.
“My family,” he added. “They now are in Germany, so they are safe.”
Asked again about the war and his high-profile status in Japan, he replied. “I hope that people from Ukraine will be able to see my sumo and have some kind of encouragement from that.”
Non-Japanese sumo wrestlers have excelled in different periods in Japan. They have included Mongolians, Hawaiians and now Ukrainians. A second Ukrainian, Shishi Masaru, is also a highly-ranked wrestler in Japan.
Ukraine has a very strong tradition in Olympic wrestling. Its last gold-medal winner was Zhan Beleniuk in the Greco-Roman category at the Tokyo Games, which were delayed until 2021 by the pandemic.
“Sumo is quite popular in Ukraine, however it’s quite rare for someone to be doing only sumo,” Aonishiki said. “They’ll often be doing wrestling and sumo, or judo and sumo.”
Aonishiki said he came to Japan in 2022 after striking up a friendship with a Japanese wrestler at a tournament in 2019. He hasn’t been back to Ukraine since arriving in Japan and said, of course, he’d like to visit.
“It is the place where I was born, where I was raised,” he said. “It is my homeland and there are many people I know there. So if there were a chance I would like to be able to go and visit Ukraine.”
He also talked about his future interest in obtaining a Japanese passport.
There were questions about his wrestling technique and strength. He can bench press 210 kilograms (460 pounds).
Of course, there were queries about his weight and eating habits. He weighs only 125 kilograms (275 pounds). This is slight in sumo since many weigh at least 150-kilograms (330 pounds) and some much more.
“My weight is somewhat lighter or smaller than others,” he said. “If possible I would like to increase my weight by around 10 kilograms (22 pounds). However, that’s not so easy to do. It’s hard to really eat more than I am at the moment. It could be quite painful in a way.”
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AP Sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports
By STEPHEN WADE
AP Sports Writer
