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 th ...

wrestler from

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Career

As a youth, he did

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...

, turning to sumo at age 16. At age 18, he went to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

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 Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

business.

Career record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryuko, Go 1971 births Living people Brazilian sportspeople of Japanese descent Brazilian sumo wrestlers Martial artists from São Paulo

Career

Career record

See also

References