Tochinoshin finally lifted the Emperor’s Cup on Sunday, 12 tumultuous years after joining the sumo world.
The Georgian has had his fair share of ups and downs over the past decade with a career that not only came close to ending more than once, but in fact almost never even got off the ground.
Back in October 2005, Levan Gorgadze, just three days past his 18th birthday, finished competing at the World Sumo Championships in Osaka and was desperately looking for a sumo stable willing to take him in. Unable to find one, it seemed his dream of becoming a rikishi was over, until at the last minute Nihon University Sumo Club agreed to let the future Tochinoshin lodge with it for the time remaining on his visa.