Tokyo (AFP)

The great sumo champion Hakuho, who in twenty years of career has broken almost all the records of this Japanese discipline, has decided to retire from sports, sumo authorities confirmed on Monday.

The 36-year-old Mongolian yokozuna - sumo's most prestigious rank - reigned supreme in the sport, having won a record 45 tournaments during his career.

But, overtaken by injuries, his participation in competitions had become rarer in recent years.

However, he had won the tournament in July of that year without suffering a single loss.

But due to a case of coronavirus in the "heya" (brotherhood) to which he belongs, Hakuho was barred from competing in the Tokyo fall tournament which ended on Sunday.

"I learned from the president of the Japanese Sumo Association (AJS) that Hakuho had forwarded the documents ending his career," Hironori Yano, chairman of the Deliberation Council, told a press conference on Monday. yokozuna, an organ close to the AJS.

He is said to have decided to throw in the towel because of persistent pain in his right knee, according to local media.

- "Excellent work" -

Near Kokugikan, the venue for sumo tournaments in eastern Tokyo, residents on Monday praised his exceptional career.

"He missed a lot of fights because of injuries (...), he was in physical pain and he's already over 30. He worked very hard," Miyako Arai, 46, told AFP.

"I want to tell him: + well done, excellent job +. He came to Japan, became a sumo and a yokozuna, it is not a small accomplishment", reacted for his part Takashi Sakai, 76 years old. .

"He was also the target of jealousy from some Japanese people. He was stronger than Japanese wrestlers," he added.

Hakuho first climbed the "dohyo", the clay platform where fighting takes place, in 2001, shortly after arriving from Mongolia, ascending to the supreme rank of yokozuna in 2007.

His bitter rivalry with his compatriot Asashoryu had fascinated fans in the late 2000s. But subsequently Hakuho's dominance in the absence of serious rivals, the lack of Japanese champions and a series of scandals in the sumo world had taken hold. seriously damaged interest in sports.

The only active yokozuna after Kakuryu retired in March, Hakuho was joined at that rank in July by another Mongolian, Terunofuji, who became a Japanese citizen last month.

Hakuho acquired Japanese citizenship in 2019, a prerequisite for remaining in the sumo world and opening his own heya, where he can focus on training the young talents he began to unearth several years ago.

© 2021 AFP