First Egyptian Muslim sumo wrestler storms Japan

Battle of giants: Osunaarashi throws Mongolian-born grand sumo champion Yokozuna Kakuryu out of the ring during the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament at Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium in Nagoya, Japan, on July 17, 2014.

Osunaarashi makes history in Japan’s hallowed sport of sumo as the first Muslim-Egyptian-Arab-African wrestler.

Sumo wrestler Osunaarashi was a large, muscular Egyptian teenager with a passion for bodybuilding when a friend recommended he try the ancient Japanese sport of sumo. But it was a hard sell. “This sport is about two elephants pushing each other,” he recalls his initial thoughts about the sport. “I’m a bodybuilder, man. It looked so ugly for me and I thought I would never do it.”