Terunofuji making most of what may be limited time as yokozuna

At the conclusion of his post-championship press conference on Monday, Terunofuji stretched both arms out, seeking the help that sumo’s sole yokozuna always needs these days to rise from a seated position.

The Mongolian-born grand champion may only have turned 30 in November, but — in both act and word — he appears a man much older.

Long gone is the overt joy that was on display when he first won a title, and in its place is the calm air of respite that comes with having fulfilled one of the responsibilities of sumo’s highest rank.

“Nothing feels particularly different. I’m in a position where I have to win, so it was a relief,” was Terunofuji’s description of his mood following a seventh Emperor’s Cup win.

The veteran’s vast experience also shone through when describing how he overcame a rough start that included three losses by the midway point of the Summer Basho.

“My physical condition wasn’t bad, so I somehow managed to do it. I did weight training and participated in practice sessions from the conclusion of the March tournament until the May meet, so even with the three early losses, at no point did I think I couldn’t do it.”

Terunofuji’s decade-plus in Japan’s national sport has been a roller coaster the likes of which sumo had never previously seen.

His early rise up the ranks — which brought a first title and promotion to ozeki by age 24 — as well as his recent stretch of total dominance can make it easy to forget that the Isegahama stable man hasn’t actually been a yokozuna all that long.

In fact, when COVID-19 hit this country with full ferocity a couple of years ago and forced the Japan Sumo Association into holding the March 2020 tournament in Osaka behind closed doors, Terunofuji was still in the second-tier jūryō division.

With the meet that followed being canceled outright, it wasn’t until July 2020 that he made his return to the top division — after an absence of two and a half years.

The greatest comeback the sport has ever seen has coincided with a global pandemic, and watching Terunofuji struggle to overcome arguably sumo’s weakest field in years — and groan with pain when sitting down or standing up — it’s hard to know which will end first.

Still four months away from completing a full year’s worth of tournaments as a yokozuna, Terunofuji is almost guaranteed to have one of the shorter reigns of recent times at the top of the sumo pyramid.

However, a relatively brief span as grand champion won’t detract from what he has achieved to date, and purely in terms of silverware Terunofuji has already outclassed many of his predecessors.

Only 14 wrestlers in history have a title count that reaches double digits, and Terunofuji, even with his injury issues, could well become the 15th — possibly before the year is out.

The Ulaanbaatar native’s seventh Emperor’s Cup moves him ahead of Kakuryu and two behind former stablemate Harumafuji among Mongolia-born grand champions. If Terunofuji achieves his stated aim of making it to ten championships, the only countrymen he’ll trail are legendary pair Hakuho and Asashoryu.

What the former Magaki stable man has achieved following his return to prominence is nothing short of remarkable.

Terunofuji has a record of 137 wins and 30 losses on the clay since clawing his way back to the top tier, after a series on injuries and illnesses that should have ended his career on multiple occasions.

Six championships — including a perfect 15-0 title — and three runner-up performances in the space of two years, with special prizes in four of the five meets in which he was eligible for them is an incredible haul and has earned the veteran the right to be included in debates about the greatest wrestlers of the 21st century.

Terunofuji told journalists at the aforementioned press conference that he had promised the former Aminishiki a title win ahead of the latter’s upcoming retirement ceremony.

That was about as far as he was willing to go in terms of talking about predictions and future success, indicating that he takes a day by day approach to sumo.

Ten championships however normally earns a grand champion the unofficial moniker of dai-yokozuna, and Terunofuji has to be aware that — as impressive as he has been over the past few years — reaching that milestone would considerably burnish his legacy and place him in the conversation about all-time great rikishi.

A question about whether he saw this latest title win — after failing to do so in January and March — as a kind of renaissance, initially elicited some confusion from the yokozuna about the meaning of the phrase, but once it was elaborated upon he quickly dismissed the idea.

Terunofuji is no different than most athletes in being reluctant to discuss grander themes and overarching storylines in an historical context while still active, preferring to focus instead on immediate challenges both inside and outside the arena.

Whether the yokozuna will take his career from "utterly unique and extremely impressive" to "all-time legendary" remains to be seen. Injuries hang like Damocles’ sword over Terunofuji, but with potential pretenders to the throne either still in the lower divisions or struggling to take the final step, the window to dai-yokozuna status remains open.

Even if he doesn’t reach that mark, Terunofuji’s latest title has only cemented his place as one of the admirable rikishi of modern times.