#grand-sumo

#grand-sumo

The swish of feet on clay and sand has a soothing, rhythmic feel, as wrestlers at a sumo stable in Tokyo propel themselves across the ring, their bodies low, eyes fixed on an imaginary foe. But by the time their morning training ends an hour later, all but one of the rikishi are bathed in sweat, gulping lungfuls of air, their strength waning with every shove.

On the night of her 60th birthday, Sally Goldner climbed on to the top rope of the wrestling ring, to the roars of the crowd, and launched herself on to her competitors with a missile dropkick. The crowd roared. For a second, she was completely airborne, before landing on her opponents. Wow, I'm doing this,' she thought. Exhilarating. I couldn't think of anything I'd rather be doing on my birthday.

By the time the uninjured judge had regained her composure, Nishida's 186cm frame was sliding quickly along the ground towards her, his nose down and his hands by his side, triggering laughter and applause among the spectators and his teammates. Nishida was not finished, however. He then got to his knees and continued to bow profusely, at one point clasping the palms of his hands together.

Despite having only played for the Dodgers in MLB for two seasons, Yamamoto has already carved himself into Dodgers history with two World Series wins and a World Series MVP in 2025. He took over the 2025 postseason, throwing two complete games in a row in the NLCS and World Series while maintaining a 1.45 ERA over the course of 37.1 innings pitched. In the World Series, he allowed just two runs in 17.2 innings pitched, and closed Game 7 without taking a full day of rest.