Asanoyama Hiroki

[3] After initially showing more interest and aptitude for handball, Ishibashi began to concentrate on sumo in Junior High School.

As a University champion, Ishibashi was allowed to bypass the two lowest tiers of professional sumo and begin his career in the fourth sandanme division in March 2016.

Winning records in September and November were followed by a perfect 7–0 in January 2017 which earned him the divisional championship and promotion to the second division (jūryō).

Asanoyama revealed his determination to reach jūryō to honour the memory of his sumo coach at high school who had recently died of cancer, and that his resolve did not falter even though he lost two matches in November and had to wait for one more tournament to earn promotion.

[6] In his jūryō debut in March 2017 Asanoyama recorded 10 wins to tie for the lead on the final day of the tournament but was beaten in a play-off by the much more experienced Toyohibiki.

[9] After his final match Asanoyama commented, "I have fought with the spirit of a challenger over the 15 days and that has led to my finishing with double figures in wins.

"[9] He was less successful in his second top division tournament, scoring only five wins against ten losses and barely avoiding demotion back to jūryō.

[14] He was the first wrestler from Toyama Prefecture to win a top division championship in 103 years, and 25,000 people attended a parade in his hometown on June 16.

[19] He is the first komusubi from Takasago stable since Asasekiryū in 2006, the third post-World War II from Toyama Prefecture after Wakamiyama and Kotogaume, and the third from Kindai University after his stablemaster Asashio and Takarafuji.

"[22] Asanoyama finished with an 11–4 record in the March tournament, good enough for the sumo advisory board to recommend his promotion to the ōzeki rank.

[27] He made a poor start to his September campaign, losing his first three matches, which led to him being criticized by former yokozuna and Takasago stable member Asashōryū.

[32] The Sumo Association's director of communications, Shibatayama, said at the time that Asanoyama had initially denied the allegations, which were first reported by the Shūkan Bunshun magazine, but later admitted to them.

[33] The investigation into the matter was handled by the Sumo Association's compliance committee, headed by Oguruma (former ōzeki Kotokaze).

[34] When initially asked by investigators about the violations, Asanoyama claimed to have been seeking medical treatment, accompanied by the Sports Nippon reporter.

[1] Oguruma was quoted as saying that Asanoyama "...should have served as a role model for other sumo wrestlers" as an ōzeki, adding that the punishment would not have been as harsh if he admitted to what he did in the first place.

[34] As his suspension is treated as absences on the banzuke, Asanoyama lost his ōzeki title and fell out of the sekitori ranks completely.

[36] In addition to Asanoyama's punishment, his stablemaster Takasago (former sekiwake Asasekiryū) was issued a 20% salary cut for three months.

[35] One month after his suspension was finalized, Asanoyama, his stablemaster and six lower-ranked rikishi in Takasago stable all tested positive for COVID-19.

[38] Asanoyama was demoted to the third-lowest division at the rank of west sandanme 22 for the July 2022 tournament in Nagoya following the completion of his six-tournament suspension.

[41] In September 2022 he was ranked at makushita 15 and would have been promoted back to jūryō for November if he had produced another perfect score, but he lost one of his seven matches.

[43] Following the November basho the Sumo Association announced that Asanoyama would be promoted to jūryō, returning to sekitori for the January 2023 tournament.

[48] He stayed in the championship race until Day 13 when he was defeated by Yokozuna Terunofuji, the eventual top division champion of this basho.

At the July 2023 tournament he secured four wins before having to withdraw after partially tearing his left bicep in his loss to Hōshōryū on Day 7.

[53] Moreover, on 3 November, Asanoyama was also bereaved by the loss of his former master Asashio IV, who had raised him to the rank of ōzeki, having died at the age of 67.

[67] Asanoyama's medical certificate indicated he would need two months of treatment, but Takasago predicted that he would need more than half a year to fully recover and return to competition.

[3] On 23 October, it was confirmed that Asanoyama was not planning to compete until March 2025, the latter mentioning his intention to become the first wrestler in sumo history to be demoted to sandanme and regain his makuuchi status twice.

[70] Sanshō key: F=Fighting spirit; O=Outstanding performance; T=Technique     Also shown: ★=Kinboshi; P=Playoff(s) Divisions: Makuuchi — Jūryō — Makushita — Sandanme — Jonidan — Jonokuchi Asanoyama Hiroki's official biography (English) at the Grand Sumo Homepage

Asanoyama receives the President's Cup from Donald Trump
Asanoyama original ōzeki tegata (handprint and signature)
In his comeback tournament in July 2022