Women sumo fighters in the ring - 28th April 2023

For most people, sumo wrestlers are large men who usually come from Asia. They wear few clothes during matches.

But, like many other women, Luciana Watanabe does sumo in Brazil.

Luciana Watanabe: "In the whole world, there are many women practising sumo in more than 80 countries. There are already four weight categories. I think we are expanding this. My idea is to break prejudices."

Sumo was born in Japan. There, women still aren't allowed to do the sport as a paid job. For over 1,500 years, sumo was connected to the Shinto religion. In the past, women weren't allowed to go to competitions or to touch the wrestlers.

But in 2001, an international championship for women's sumo started. Organisers are now hoping sumo will develop into an Olympic sport.

Diana Dall'Olio discovered sumo after trying other sorts of wrestling.

Diana Dall'Olio: "It is tiring, but the wrestling is quick. I've done judo and jiu-jitsu, but they are slow. Sumo is very fast, like 10 seconds. That's very good."

Japanese immigrants brought sumo to Brazil in the early 20th century. Now over 50 percent of the country's 600 wrestlers are women. Sumo fighter Valeria Dall'Olio loves to shock people.

Valeria Dall'Olio: "There are preconceived ideas. Sometimes when I say I practise sumo, everyone looks at me thinking I should be fat, but amateur also has categories, and I fight in the medium category."

These days, sumo wrestling isn't only for enormous Asian men. It's also a sport for average-sized women.