Gōeidō
| Gōeidō Gōtarō | |
|---|---|
| 豪栄道 豪太郎 | |
 |
|
| Personal information | |
| Born | Gōtarō Sawai April 6, 1986 Neyagawa, Osaka, Japan |
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) |
| Weight | 156 kg (344 lb; 24.6 st) |
| Career | |
| Stable | Sakaigawa |
| Current rank | see below |
| Debut | January 2005 |
| Highest rank | Ōzeki (September 2014) |
| Championships | 1 (Makuuchi) 2 (Makushita) 1 (Sandanme) 1 (Jonokuchi) |
| Special Prizes | Fighting Spirit (3) Outstanding Performance (5) Technique (3) |
| Gold Stars | 1 (Asashōryū) |
| * Up to date as of Mar 17, 2017. | |
Gōeidō Gōtarō (豪栄道 豪太郎?, born April 6, 1986 as Sawai Gōtarō) is a sumo wrestler from Osaka Prefecture, Japan. He made his professional debut in January 2005 and reached the top makuuchi division in September 2007. Long regarded as one of the most promising Japanese wrestlers in sumo, Gōeidō holds the modern record for the most consecutive appearances at sumo's third highest rank of sekiwake, at 14 tournaments. He was finally promoted to the rank of ōzeki following the July 2014 tournament, after scores of twelve wins against three losses in two of the previous three tournaments. However, he has only twice managed to win ten bouts in a tournament as an ōzeki, and has been kadoban, or in danger of demotion, four times to date. He won his first top division tournament in September 2016.
Born in Neyagawa, Sawai began sumo in his first year of primary school. He was well known for being a strong contender from the beginning, and was encouraged by his family to take on older and bigger boys to improve his sumo even further. In junior high his light weight compared to most of his contemporaries held him back and demoralized him. However, he made the decision to attend Sakami Sakae high school which had a well-known sumo program. With a new found determination and a supportive coach, he won 11 national titles. At the 53rd All Japan Sumo Championships held at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan in December 2004, in which he was the only high school student to compete, he finished in the top four. He made his professional debut one month later in January 2005, joining Sakaigawa stable.
He initially fought under his own surname of Sawai. He moved through the lower ranks quickly and took the championship in the third highest makushita division in September 2006 with a perfect 7–0 record, which earned him promotion to the second highest jūryō division. At this point he adopted the shikona of Gōeidō.
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