A 21-year-old Ukrainian sumo wrestler who left his homeland due to the Russian invasion won a prestigious sumo tournament in Japan, where his rapid ascent in the highly competitive sport has gained widespread recognition. Yavhushyshyn Danylo, known by his ring name Ao Nishiki, triumphed at the November Grand Sumo Tournament last Sunday, as reported by the national broadcaster NHK. In the decisive bout, he defeated the higher-ranked Mongolian wrestler Hoshoryu. “It’s a feeling that’s impossible to put into words,” Ao Nishiki said after the victory, according to NHK. “It felt like I just let my body do its thing, using my own strength. I diligently followed my coach’s instructions, and that led to this result.” His victory marks a dizzying rise in the sport, dictated by rituals and tradition, within the three years since he arrived in Japan while his homeland suffered from the war. In his childhood in Ukraine, where martial arts have always been popular (the country boasts a long list of Olympic wrestling champions), he practiced freestyle wrestling and judo; at age seven, he switched to sumo after seeing sumo wrestlers training at his judo hall, as reported by Asahi Shimbun, a CNN partner. Ao Nishiki competes against opponent Kotozakura during the Grand Sumo Tournament in Fukuoka on November 23, 2025. Ao Nishiki competes against opponent Kotozakura during the Grand Sumo Tournament in Fukuoka on November 23, 2025. He quickly demonstrated talent for the sport, placing third at the Junior Sumo World Championships in Japan at just 15—around the time he befriended Japanese sumo wrestler Arata Yamanaka. Then, everything abruptly halted in 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine. Sports facilities were destroyed, and athletes and their families fled abroad—including Ao Nishiki, whose family moved to Germany. “I felt it would be a shame to end my athletic career like that,” Ao Nishiki told NHK in a documentary about his journey shown in July. “I loved sumo; I felt I had to try to compete in sumo somehow on the path I had chosen.” So, at the age of 18, he traveled alone to Japan—where his friend Yamanaka, then captain of the sumo club at Kansai University, offered to host Ao Nishiki at his family home and arranged training for the Ukrainian at the university club. His ring name translates to “blue”—one of the colors of the Ukrainian flag. Ao Nishiki began rebuilding his career in a new country and with a new language. He soon became fluent in Japanese and began climbing the rankings at a record pace—defeating his university sparring partners despite not being the biggest or heaviest (weighing only 140 kilograms, which is below the average for top-division sumo wrestlers). He eventually joined the Tokyo stable (heya) Ajigawa to live, train, and compete at a professional level. By Sunday’s tournament, he had reached the third-highest rank of Sekiwake after only 13 tournaments, a record pace in a sport where rankings fluctuate frequently, and wrestlers can be promoted or demoted based on competition results. Following Ao Nishiki’s victory on Sunday, the sumo governing body held an extraordinary meeting to discuss his potential promotion to the second-highest title of Ozeki, as reported by NHK. But the Ukrainian wrestler is aiming higher. “There is one more rank above that, so I want to aim for it,” he said, firmly targeting the highest title of Yokozuna.
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