This same photo ran in the LA Daily news on page 2 during the basho. It was printed today in the Antelope Valley Press ( in LA county)on page B1with the cation, " Too Fat - American born wrestler Konishiki, being taken to the mat by grand champion Takanohana during a September bout, is the heaviest wrestler in history at 605 pounds. Sumo officials say the wrestlers, who have always been fat, need to lose weight."... accompanied by an article from Eric Talmadge of the AP titled, " Officials call Sumo wrestlers pound-foolish". Although I realize that I should not be copying an article onto the list, I made every effort to try and find a link I could post instead through the Associated Press. This was very frustrating as I kept getting looped to CNN or Reuters..I even tried to link to Mr. Talmadge. I finally threw up my hands and here it is ( if anyone can find a working link to the AP - let me know!) Copy follws: TOKYO - For centuries, sumo wrestlers have been fat - really fat - and pround of it. But after watching the weight of top wretslers balloon to as much as 600 pounds, officilas for Japan's national sport have a word for the wide - slim down. "Some young wrestlers are too heavy to keep up with the training," Sho Sakaigawa, chairman of the Japan Sumo Association, told a news conference Thursday. "They're breathing heavily all the time; some even have trouble walking. They're too fat." Sumo is hoping the coming year will be a landmark of sorts. Professional sumo wrestlers will be featured in the opening ceremony of the Nagano Winter Olympics, which begin in February. Amatuer sumo aficionados are even pushing to get the sport recognised as an official Olympic event. But while sumo remains one of the most popular spectator sports in Japan, along with baseball and soocer, its ability to draw fans to the six official tournaments each year has been wavering. Sakaigawa, himself a former sumo wrestler, says obesity is partly to blame. The average weight of wrestlers in the sports top divisions is 330 pounds, a record. Because they are so heavy, the competitors are less athletic and more prone to injury, Sakaigawa said, noting that nine of the 66 wrestlers in the top two divisionshad to sit out the most recent tournament, held last month. American-born Konishiki, the heaviest wrestler in sumo history at 605 pounds, was among the injured, although he sat out only four days. "It looked like a hospital in the ring," said Sakagiawa, adding that most of the wrestlers who did compete were heavily taped. "This is very dissapointing for us." Two other Hawaiian born wrestlers fill out the top three in the weight catagory - yokozuna (grand champion) Akebono crunches the scales at 515 pounds and Musashimaur weighs in at 440 pounds. Sumo has its roots in acient religious ritual. Matches in the professional ranks are held on a raised ring of dirt, with wrestlers going barefoot and wearing only loincloths. The wrestlers who is pushed out or down first is the loser. One of the reasons sumo wrestlers may be gaining weight is becuase of changes in the diets. Traditionally it consisted of large amounts of vegetables - albeit in gargantuan amounts. But in recent years, the vegetables have been increasingly replaced by meat, which is higher in fat. Whereas before wrestlers might snack on tofu and rice, some, including Konishiki, now gravitate toward fast food like pizza and hamburgers. Before he became a grand champion, the sport's highest ranking, Konishiki occassionally swore off fast food, visibly losing weight. Although he felt more energetic, he has since put the pounds back on. Because of their excess weight, sumo wrestlers are prone to diabetes, joint problems, and other illnesses. They are also susceptible to skin ailments from rolling around in sweaty wrestling rings for hours on end. - Gerrie
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