When Daiki Nakamura (now ozeki Onosato) won back-to-back All Japan Sumo Championship titles in 2021 and 2022, it was the first time in 25 years that someone had repeated as amateur yokozuna.
Incredibly, after that quarter-century-long gap — which followed wins by Keiji Tamiya (later ozeki Kotomitsuki) in 1996 and 1997 — the rare and extremely difficult achievement has happened twice in quick succession.
On Sunday at Tokyo’s Ryogoku Kokugikan, 23-year-old Shun Ikeda downed Tuvaadorj Bukhchuluun for the second year running to take home the 2024 amateur yokozuna title.
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