When Hakuho won his 33rd Emperor’s Cup in January, he was widely acknowledged as the greatest ever grand champion in the history of the sport.
At the time, he moved past Taiho into first place on the all time leaders, in the process equalling the former great in achieving the most career tournaments with at least 10 wins (57), before a day later once more pulling level with Taiho’s career tally for at least 11 wins (55) during a basho.
Laurels aplenty have since been heaped on the shoulders of this living legend of modern-sumo.