Portly Problem Sumo Official Says Wrestlers Too Fat, Sport Losing Mass Appeal

For centuries, sumo wrestlers have been fat - real fat - and proud of it.

But after watching the average weight of the top wrestlers in Japan’s national sport balloon to more than 330 pounds, the chairman of the Japan Sumo Association on Thursday had a word for the wise - shape up.

“Some young wrestlers are too heavy to keep up with the training,” Sho Sakaigawa told a news conference. “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.

Amateur sumo aficionados are even pushing to get the sport recognized as an official Olympic event.

But while sumo remains one of the most popular spectator sports in Japan, along with baseball and soccer, its ability to draw fans to the six official 15-day tournaments held each year has been wavering.

Sakaigawa, himself a former sumo wrestler, points to the obese competitors as one reason. The says that injuries are rising because the wrestlers are too heavy and less athletic.

He noted that nine of the 66 wrestlers in the top two divisions had to sit out the most recent sumo 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 Sakaigawa, adding that most of the wrestlers who did compete were heavily taped. “This is very disappointing for us.”

Two other Hawaiian-born wrestlers fill out the top three in the weight category - yokozuna (grand champion) Akebono crunches the scales at 515 pounds and ozeki (champion) Musashimaru weighs in at 440 pounds.

Sumo has its roots in ancient religious ritual. Matches in the professional ranks are held on a raised ring of dirt, with wrestlers going barefoot and wearing only loincloths. The wrestler who is pushed out or down first is the loser.