New Year Grand Sumo Tournament winner ozeki Kisenosato Yutaka stretches his legs during a press conference at his Tagonoura stable in Tokyo, a day after ending the tournament with a 14-1 record, in this photo taken by Kyodo on Jan. 23, 2017. Mandatory credit REUTERS/Kyodo
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan rejoiced on Wednesday as sumo wrestler Kisenosato became the first Japanese born and bred grand champion in nearly two decades, ending foreign-born wrestlers' domination of the ancient sport's top rank.
Sumo, which features giant wrestlers clad only in loincloths, has seen such an influx of foreign grapplers over the last 50 years that prior to this week all three grand champions - known as yokozuna - were Mongolian. Hawaiian-born Americans have also held the rank.
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