Ryūkō Gō (born 26 May 1968 as Luis Gō Ikemori) is a former
sumo
is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by thr ...
wrestler from
São Paulo,
Brazil.
Career
As a youth he did
judo, turning to sumo at age 16. At age 18 he went to
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
and won an international tournament, and in 1990 competing for
Takushoku University he became the first Brazilian to win the Japanese National Collegiate Sumo Championship.
He turned professional in May 1992, joining the
Tamanoi stable. He was the first foreign wrestler ever to be granted ''
makushita tsukedashi'' status, meaning that because of his amateur sumo achievements he could start at the bottom of the third highest ''
makushita'' division. He reached elite ''
sekitori'' status in March 1994 when he was promoted to the ''
jūryō'' division. Ryūkō was his final ''
shikona'' or fighting name – he was also known as Ikemori and Ryūdō. His highest rank was ''Jūryō'' 8, achieved in March 1995. He had Japanese parentage and adopted Japanese citizenship on 22 April 1996 (the same day as
Akebono). Having fallen down the ''
banzuke'' rankings he retired in January 1999. He has remained in Japan, working for a
Tokyo business.
Career record
See also
*
List of non-Japanese sumo wrestlers
*
List of past sumo wrestlers
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryuko, Go
1971 births
Living people
Brazilian people of Japanese descent
Brazilian sumo wrestlers
Sportspeople from São Paulo