Cristiano Ronaldo was probably the most famous athlete to test positive for coronavirus. But a case could be made that the most dominant athlete to contract it is Hakuho, who learned Tuesday that he had tested positive. Hakuho, Japan’s top-ranked sumo wrestler, is perhaps the best ever to compete in the ancient Japanese sport. At 35, he has won the six-times-yearly top-level championship a record 44 times, dwarfing the previous mark of 32 set by an earlier-era champion, Taiho, in the 1960s and ’70s. In a statement released by Japan’s sumo association, Hakuho said he took a coronavirus test on Sunday after noticing that he had lost his sense of smell.

Source: International New York Times January 05, 2021 15:33 UTC