Ryūkōzan Kazuto


Ryūkōzan Kazuto, born Kazuto Miyata, was a sumo wrestler from Sakai, Osaka, Japan. He made his professional debut in March 1983, and reached the top makuuchi division in January 1990, alongside his stablemate Oginohana, He achieved a winning record in his makuuchi debut which saw him promoted to his highest rank of maegashira 5. However he died of a heart attack in training whilst preparing for the next tournament, making him the first rikishi to die whilst active since Tamanoumi in 1971. Following his death the Japan Sumo Association introduced mandatory ECG checks for all wrestlers and required installation of automated external defibrillators at every stable. On 4 July 2019 his former stablemate Oginohana, now Dewanoumi Oyakata, collapsed at a training session whilst supervising jonokuchi wrestlers. It was diagnosed as variant angina and he was saved by the availability of an automated external defibrillator.

Career record