May 2024 Weight-Height Scatterplot
Let's get ready to rrrrrumble!
Before I get into my scatterplots, here are the Texas sisters, Leslie & Laurie, talking about the May 2024 banzuke:
So let’s get into it!
Full May 2024 Makuuchi Scatterplot
This is the full banzuke (whether these guys are likely to show up or not… -cough- injuries injuries injuries -cough-)
I know I have to explain this each time, but the size of the circles (and the color) only relate to the ranks. The location of the points indicate height and weight.
All the data come from the JSA/NSK website as of 8 May 2024. I have discussed before how I think some of the data are… not exactly reliable. Particularly Midorifuji’s height, but I also noticed that Shodai’s recorded weight jumped 12 kilograms (that’s 26 pounds, y’all) between the March and May records. I’ll address Shodai’s weight after I make some comparisons.
May 2024 Sanyaku
And for usefulness, let me put the March 2024 graph in here, so you can eyeball the difference (the axes are the same).
Terunofuji is where he is and hasn’t budged. We have the same 4 ozeki — Kotonowaka merely changed his shikona from Kotonowaka to Kotozakura.
Kirishima moved to the right with 7 kg weight gain! I have looked up his history, and there are lots of ups & downs in his weight in my record.
Abi also gained 5 kg.
But the main things to note are moves in/out of sanyaku, as Nishikigi and Daieisho are out of sanyaku ranks, and Asanaoyama and Onosato move in.
May 2024 Upper Maegashira
At this point, I don’t want to talk too much about changes from March 2024, but focus on the distribution of heights and weights.
In sanyaku, other than Takakeisho, who has tenaciously held onto ozeki rank, but has had quite the struggle to do so, these ranks are dominated by taller wrestlers. This is not necessarily true in the rest of makuuchi.
Notice my favorite wrestlers, Ura, Tobizaru, and Midorifuji, are in the upper Maegashira ranks.
Takerufuji, the March 2024 tournament winner, of course got skyrocketed up to the upper Maegashira ranks, but given injuries… (I said I wasn’t going to talk about those)
But note the kind of wrestlers in terms of height-weight combinations we’re seeing here. The taller wrestlers, excepting Takerufuji, tend to be hefty. We aren’t seeing what I call the “string beans”, who are taller and slighter. Not at these ranks. HMM.
And yes, the height/weight stats of Atamifuji and Nishikigi are recorded as exactly the same.
May 2024 Lower Maegashira
Here we see a wider variety of weights at taller heights.
Shodai’s Instant Weight Gain?
I want to address Shodai’s weird weight rollercoaster, because I don’t know what is going on.
I’ve been keeping track of the height/weight scatterplot since 2022 for all the Makuuchi wrestlers. All these data came from the JSA/NSK official pages. I missed a few tournaments, and they don’t necessarily measure weight anew at the non-Tokyo tournaments.
Uh…. really?
My guess is that Shodai’s weight is really 159 kg, and they entered the amount into the website incorrectly.
Here’s the screenshot, in case they fix it later:
If he really did gain 12kgs in 2 months… that’s not a good sign. All sorts of bad medical conditions are involved with large weight gains. Keep well, Shodai!
