The Ukrainian war refugee who turns Japan's national sport upside down

BarcelonaThree years ago, Danilo Yavhushin trained every day at a gym in his hometown of Vinnitsia, in central Ukraine. Danilo was 17 and a somewhat unusual boy, having excelled in judo and Greco-Roman wrestling. He had told his parents and coaches that he wanted to change disciplines: he wanted to try sumo after seeing a live exhibition. Yavhushin had enjoyed Japan's most sacred sport so much that, with the help of a judo coach, he built a training space similar to the dirt arenas where sumo matches are held. But everything changed when Russia attacked Ukraine three years ago. Because Danilo was a minor, he wasn't supposed to go to the front lines. He and his family managed to flee to Germany after witnessing Russian missiles strike their city, damaging the gym where he trained. It was then, in the midst of his escape, that Yavhuschin sent a message: "Can I come live in Japan?" The message was received by Arata Yamanaka, one of the best young sumo wrestlers. The two had met at a Junior World Sumo Championship when they were only 15 years old. They had exchanged contact information and kept in touch. "I thought it would be a shame to end my sporting career after the invasion," he explained in an NHK television documentary. "I liked sumo, and I felt I should try to compete in sumo somehow, given the path I had chosen," he added. So he asked Yamanaka for help, and Yamanaka responded. He took him into his home and arranged for him to train with the team at the prestigious Kansai University, where Yamanaka was the captain. After a few months, he managed to be accepted into the Ajigawa stable, based in Tokyo, although initially they didn't want foreign wrestlers. At the highest level, athletes live in these so-called stableThese are a kind of club where young people live, cook, do housework, and train hard, learning discipline through sometimes harsh training methods. The young Ukrainian learned Japanese and worked hard, earning the opportunity to participate in increasingly important tournaments.

Three years after that message he sent from Germany, Yavhuschin has won one of Japan's top sumo tournaments, the November Tournament, on the island of Kyushu. Four top-level tournaments are held each year, and Danilo has triumphed in one of them by defeating one of the favorites, Hoshoryu Tomokatsu. Yahuschin competes under the name Aonishiki, as in sumo all wrestlers adopt a ritual name for competition. Despite being one of the less experienced wrestlers and not one of the biggest or strongest, the Ukrainian has surprised everyone with his technique and ability to maintain concentration. Hoshoryu,By the way, he's not Japanese either; he's from Mongolia. Mongolian wrestlers have been achieving great results in this traditionally Japanese sport for about 20 years now, a sport where the Japanese don't always win and are seeing more and more foreigners try their luck. Right now, there are two Ukrainians, one Russian, one Kazakh, and six Mongolian wrestlers on the circuit.

Blue in honor of his country's flag

"It's a feeling that words can't express. It felt like I was letting my body do its thing, using my own strength. I've been diligently doing what my teacher told me, and that has led to this result," Aonishiki would explain in perfect Japanese.at the end of the fight. His nickname, by the way, means blue, in reference to the Ukrainian flag.

At 21 years old, he has so far managed to enter the category sekiwakeThe third highest. In sumo, a committee of experts decides if wrestlers can move up a category, which allows them to earn more money and prestige. And, normally, someone who has competed in only 13 tournaments like Aonishiki doesn't reach that level. sekiwakeMany fighters spend years trying without success, but the Ukrainian has already arrived and, in fact, could soon jump to the second best category, theozekiHis challenge? To be the first European to reach the top tier, the one for the yokozuna. From 1789, when Tanikaze Kajinosuke and Onogawa Kisaburō were chosen as the first yokozunaTo date, only 75 wrestlers have achieved this feat. And only eight were foreigners: six from Mongolia and two Hawaiian-born American wrestlers of Japanese descent. Currently, only two compete. yokozuna and one is the Hoshoryu,The wrestler whom the Ukrainian defeated in the final this November was in the stands with his parents, who work in a laundry business in Düsseldorf.