Takanoyama Shuntaro

Takanoyama Shuntarō is a former sumo wrestler from Prague, Czech Republic. He is the first man from the Czech Republic to join the professional sport in Japan. He reached the third highest makushita division in 2004, but due to his light weight, he had difficulty in regularly beating his opponents, despite the skills he developed from his background in judo. However, in May 2011, he finally earned promotion to the sekitori ranks. After becoming only the third new sekitori since 1958 to pass through jūryō division in just one tournament, he made his debut in the top makuuchi division in September 2011. He retired on 24 July 2014.