My childhood hero is gone

  

My childhood great hero is gone.

The former sumo grand champion Taiho passed away at the age of 72.

  While Japanese enjoy its longevity, I am afraid that his death has come a bit earlier.

It is no doubt that he is one of the greatest grand champions in the sumo history.

He  won the trophy 32 times in his career from 1956 to 1971.

This record has not yet been broken by now.

When I was a kid,  he was already on the top as a grand sumo champion.

He was strong, quiet, reserved and what's more handsome.

Oh I really liked him. He was strong and always had a good fight with his opponent.

Every match I watched on TV, it was too thrilling for a kid.

I recall I often watched him grappling with his opponent wrestler 

while I was hiding at the back of my father's shoulder 

or  covering my eyes halfway with my hands. 

I just couldn't keep an eye on an exciting match

while people roared loudly at two wrestlers' every move.

When I heard the TV announcer shout 

that Taiho threw his opponent down to the ground,

I felt released and happy.

People said he was a genius but he claimed that he was not.

He spoke that he always kept making a tremendous effort. 

"It was not easy." he said.   His favorite word was "patience." 

He also made a great contribution for the social welfare 

especially after overcoming a stroke.

He is a real Hero.  We will miss him.

(image is from web news)