Musashimaru Fiamalu "Fia" Penitani)

Fiamalu Penitani was born in Somoa in 1971 and moved to Hawaii in 1981 at the age of ten. In 1989, he was

recruited and brought to Japan by former Olympic gold medal wrestler Date Jiichiro and began training

with the Musashigawa stable. Penitani made his sumo debut under the name Musashimaru in September 1989.

In July 1991 Musashimaru was promoted to the professional level of Juryo. Musashimaru’s career advanced

rapidly as he ascended to the top makuuchi division in November of the same year and by the following May

had achieved the rank of sanyaku. Two years later, in 1994, Musashimaru became an ozeki. Although Musashimaru

went on to set a record for competing in 52 consecutive bashos

without a losing record, he was not able to achieve the back to back wins necessary to ascend to the rank of

Yokozuna (grand champion) until July 1999. Upon finally accomplishing this feat, Musashimaru became only

the second foreign-born Yokozuna and the sixty-seventh grand champion in the history of the sport.

Musashimaru has been the consummate champion, suffering only one season with a losing record since his entry

into sumo in 1989. His career continues to thrive and he recently won the May basho for his 11th tournament

victory, equaling the total previously set by Akebono. As of June of 2002, Musashimaru is in the midst of a

major streak, having won three of the last four bashos. Musashimau is 6’3” tall and weighs 509 pounds.