Examenopgaven VMBO-VBO 2002

TEKST 6
350–KG SUMO WRESTLER IN
THE FIGHT OF HIS LIFE
Sumo wrestler Konishiki (36) dominated his sport for over 10 years. Now he
is fighting to lose the weight that made him a superstar in Japan.
1
Konishiki says: “I
want to lose 300 pounds
before my 40th birthday.
People have been telling
me I have to lose a lot of
weight. Most sumo
wrestlers don’t get older
than 41!”
2
So every morning
Konishiki swims the
length of the pool 120
times and walks 2 miles
at a training facility in
Orlando. Then after a
meal and a short rest, he
goes through a heavy 2-
hour workout. He now
eats about 2,800 calories
a day instead of 8,000.
So far Konishiki has
managed to lose nearly
100 pounds!
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5
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“Nothing is more important than my
health. I want to do everything just like all
the other people: running up and down the
basketball court... Besides, the skinny guys
can wear all the cool clothes!”
Konishiki grew up in Hawaii, the eighth
of nine children. The family home had just 2
bedrooms and he slept outside just like his
parents. By the time he was captain of his
school football team he weighed 380 pounds.
He could lift almost twice his body weight.
On the beach he was discovered by a
famous Japanese sumo wrestler and
Konishiki accepted his offer to fly to Japan
and learn sumo wrestling.
He arrived in 1982 without a penny in his
pocket and was soon in training, sleeping in
one big room with the
other wrestlers. They
had to get up at 4.30 in
the morning for 6-hour
trainings, seven days a
week. “If you think
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8
9
football is hard, try sumo. It is often
described as prison and war at the same
time.”
“For me getting big was important
because I had no background in sumo. I used
my weight to win”. Konishiki rose quickly in
the sumoworld and became champion three
times. He was the first foreign-born sumo to
do so!
Finally his knees, shoulders and back
could no longer keep him at the top, so
Konishiki had to stop wrestling. He soon had
his own TV talk show and became a popular
radio D.J.
One of the most important things for
Konishiki is to make life easier for his family
in Hawaii. “I can clearly remember I heard
my parents praying for the happiness of their
children. I then promised myself that one day
I would build them a new house. And so I
did”.
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