First foreign-born sumo grand champion dies aged 54

Hawaiian-born sumo wrestler Akebono performs a sacred ring-entering ritual at Tokyo's Meiji Shrine in January 2000. - Reuters

TOKYO: Akebono, a Hawaiian who was the first foreign-born sumo wrestler to become a grand champion, has died aged 54, US officials and Japanese media said on Thursday (April 11).

Born Chad Rowan in 1969, Akebono was among the most successful sumo wrestlers of the 1990s.