Chiyonofuji
| Chiyonofuji Mitsugu | |
|---|---|
| 千代の富士 貢 | |
Chiyonofuji in 2010
|
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| Personal information | |
| Born | Mitsugu Akimoto June 1, 1955 Fukushima, Hokkaido, Japan |
| Died | July 31, 2016 (aged 61) Tokyo, Japan |
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) |
| Weight | 127 kg (280 lb; 20.0 st) |
| Career | |
| Stable | Kokonoe |
| Record | 1045-437-170 |
| Debut | September, 1970 |
| Highest rank | Yokozuna (July, 1981) |
| Retired | May, 1991 |
| Championships | 31 (Makuuchi) 1 (Makushita) |
| Special Prizes | Outstanding Performance (1) Fighting Spirit (1) Technique (5) |
| Gold Stars | 3 Mienoumi (2) Wakanohana II |
| * Up to date as of July 2007. | |
Chiyonofuji Mitsugu (千代の富士 貢?) (June 1, 1955 – July 31, 2016), born Mitsugu Akimoto (秋元 貢 Akimoto Mitsugu?), was a Japanese champion sumo wrestler and the 58th yokozuna of the sport. Following his retirement as a wrestler, he was the stable master of Kokonoe stable until the time of his death.
Chiyonofuji was considered one of the greatest yokozuna of recent times, winning 31 yūshō or tournament championships, second at the time only to Taihō. He was particularly remarkable for his longevity in sumo's top rank, which he held for a period of ten years from 1981 to 1991. Promoted at the age of twenty-six after winning his second championship, his performance improved with age, winning more tournaments in his thirties than any other wrestler and dominating the sport in the second half of the 1980s. He finally retired in May 1991, just short of his thirty-sixth birthday. This is in contrast to most recent yokozuna who have tended to retire around 30.
During his 21-year professional career Chiyonofuji set records for most career victories (1045) and most wins in the top makuuchi division (807), earning an entry in the Guinness World Records. Both of these records were later broken by Kaiō Hiroyuki.
He won the Kyushu tournament, one of the six annual honbasho, a record eight consecutive years from 1981 until 1988, and also set the record for the longest postwar run of consecutive wins (53 bouts in 1988). That record stood for 22 years until Hakuhō broke it with his 54th straight win in September 2010.
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