When Daiki Nakamura (now ozeki Onosato) won back-to-back All Japan Sumo Championship titles in 2021 and 2022, it was the first time in 25 years that someone had repeated as amateur yokozuna.
Incredibly, after that quarter century long gap — which followed wins by Keiji Tamiya (later ozeki Kotomitsuki) in 1996 and 1997 — the rare and extremely difficult achievement has happened twice in quick succession.
On Sunday at Tokyo’s Ryogoku Kokugikan, 23-year-old Shun Ikeda downed Tuvaadorj Bukhchuluun for the second year running to take home the 2024 amateur yokozuna title.