Kaiō Hiroyuki
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| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Real name | Hiroyuki Koga | |
| Date of birth | July 24, 1972 | |
| Place of birth | Fukuoka, Japan | |
| Height | 185.0cm (6'1") | |
| Weight | 170.0kg (375lb) | |
| Career* | ||
| Heya | Tomozuna | |
| Rank | Ozeki | |
| Record | 855-547-132 | |
| Debut | March, 1988 | |
| Highest rank | Ozeki (September, 2000) | |
| Yushos | 5 (Makuuchi) 1 (Makushita) 1 (Sandanme) |
|
| Special Prizes | Outstanding Performance (10) Fighting Spirit (5) |
|
| Gold stars | 6 | |
|
* Career information is correct as of March 2007. |
||
Kaio Hiroyuki (魁皇博之, born July 24, 1972 as Hiroyuki Koga) is a professional sumo wrestler from Fukuoka, Japan.
He currently holds the second highest ozeki, or champion, rank. In his career to date he has won five top division tournament championships. This is the modern record for the most top division victories for a someone who has not ultimately made the top rank of Yokozuna.
Kaio is now one of the oldest active wrestlers in the top division. He joined sumo at the same time as former yokozuna Akebono, Takanohana and Wakanohana, who have all retired a number of years ago. Kaio's sumo has often struggled to be of a consistently sufficiently high level to allow him the major promotions that his ability merits.
Kaio reached the top division in 1993 and was promoted to a sanyaku rank exactly one year later. In the earlier part of his top, makuuchi, division career he set records for both the number of tournaments spent in the junior sanyaku ranks of komusubi and sekiwake and for the longest run being consecutively ranked in sanyaku without making ozeki. He eventually achieved ozeki promotion after the Nagoya (July) tournament in 2000 and has maintained the rank since. However, his inconsistent performance has led him to be kadoban (in danger of relegation) a record ten times for an ozeki at the start of the 2006 Kyushu (November) tournament.
He is currently one of the top ten longest serving ozeki, However, given both that he is aging and the current strength of the sole yokozuna Asashoryu it is likely he will be unable to achieve yokozuna and hence will be remembered as one of the greatest ozeki of modern times.
