Taihō Koki
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Taihō Koki (大鵬幸喜, born May 29, 1940 as Naya Koki). He was the 48th Yokozuna in the Japanese sport of sumo wrestling. He was born on the now Russian Island of Sakhalin of mixed Japanese and Russian parentage, but is regarded as having come from Hokkaidō, where he moved to as a child.
He is regarded generally as the greatest sumo wrestler of the post-war period. He won a record 32 tournaments in his career. At the time of his promotion he was the youngest ever wrestler to achieve sumo's highest rank of Yokozuna aged 21 years old, a record subsequently surpassed by Kitanoumi.
Taihō entered sumo in 1956 and rapidly rose through the ranks to become Yokozuna in 1961, following two consecutive tournament victories (his second and third). Exceptionally for a newly promoted Yokozuna he also managed to win his first tournament subsequent to his promotion. During his tenure in Sumo's highest rank he was dominant, especially in the early part of his career. Until 2005—when the 68th Yokozuna Asashoryu bettered his record—he was the only post-war Yokozuna to have achieved six tournament victories consecutively, a feat he managed on two separate occasions. He retired in 1971 after nearly 10 years as a Yokozuna, and became the first former rikishi to be offered (and accept) membership of the Sumo Association without having to purchase a share. His career win ratio was in excess of 80%, which is also a post-war record.
Taihō did not manage to replicate his own success as a wrestler as a trainer. In part this may be due to health problems he has suffered from, which also played a role in him being passed over for the chairmanship of the Sumo Association.
He was the first of three great yokozuna who all hailed from Hokkaidō, the most northerly of the main islands of Japan, and who between them dominated sumo during the 1960s, 70s and 80s. The others were Kitanoumi and Chiyonofuji.
