He is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Wrestling for the Isegahama stable, he entered professional sumo in January 2011 and took the second division jūryō championship in his debut as a sekitori in September 2013. He took the top makuuchi division championship in May 2015, only 25 tournaments after his professional debut, which is the third-fastest behind Asashōryū and Takanohana's 23 tournaments.[2] This earned him promotion to sumo's second-highest rank of ōzeki. Terunofuji then suffered from knee injuries and other health problems. Surviving kadoban (in danger of demotion from the rank of ōzeki) on three previous occasions, he was finally demoted after the September 2017 tournament. After a long injury layoff he fell to the second-lowest jonidan division in March 2019 and staged a successful comeback and returned to the makuuchi division the following year, the first wrestler to do so from such a low rank. Terunofuji won his return tournament in the top division in July 2020. He earned his second promotion to ōzeki following a third championship win in March 2021,[3] which he immediately followed with another tournament championship in May 2021.[4] Following a runner-up performance in the July 2021 tournament, he was promoted to become the sport's 73rd yokozuna.[5] He acquired Japanese citizenship the following month, taking the surname Suginomori (杉野森).[6] Overall, he has four top division championships, has been runner-up in seven tournaments, and has nine special prizes. Sumo commentator John Gunning has regarded Terunofuji's comeback "a tale unparalleled in sumo history.