Terunofuji, whose championship in July highlighted his dramatic comeback from the depths of the sumo hierarchy, moved up 16 rungs on sumo's ladder to No. 1 maegashira in the Japan Sumo Association rankings published Monday.
A strong performance at the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan from Sept. 13-27 will lift him into the three sanyaku ranks below yokozuna for the first time since the November 2017 tournament, where he wrestled as a sekiwake and pulled out injured.
"Since I'm drawing this much attention, I have to work really hard at the next tournament," Terunofuji said.