Rare woman in sumo wrestling made Bulgaria's Kotooshu into superstar

0 Comments | AFP, May, 2008

SOFIA (AFP) — In the male world of professional sumo wrestling where women are not even allowed to touch the ring, it is a lady with a gripping smile who made Bulgarian-born Kaloyan Mahlyanov, known in Japan as Kotooshu, into the sumo superstar he is today.

Kotooshu, 25, became in 2005 the first European to reach the second-highest rank in professional sumo wrestling, ozeki.

His broad smile and comparatively lean physique compared to the famously plump sumo wrestlers have also turned him into a heartthrob for Japanese girls, while Japanese media have dubbed him the David Beckham of sumo.

But this towering giant of 145 kilogrammes, who started off as a Western-style wrestler, might never have entered professional sumo if it was not for the vision and...