Tokyo CNN —Pioneering US-born former sumo wrestling champion Akebono has died, his family announced in a statement Thursday. Widely considered to have blazed a trail for other foreign sumo wrestlers, the 54-year-old died of heart failure at a hospital in Japan. Born Chad George Ha’aheo Rowan in Hawaii, Akebono became the first non-Japanese yokozuna – a sumo grand champion, the highest rank in the sport. According to the Japan Sumo Association, Akebono was rushed to hospital after a wrestling match in 2017 and had been unwell ever since. I was talking with him about meeting under a tree in Hawaii with all our fellow sumo wrestlers when we grew older.

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Persons: Akebono, Chad George Ha’aheo Rowan, –, Akebono Taro, “, Akebono “, Rahm Emanuel, Joe Biden, Fumio Kishida, Masaru Hanada, ” Hanada, I’m, ” Organizations: Tokyo CNN —, Yokozuna, Japan Sumo Association, Twitter, Japanese Olympic Committee, Nagano, Japan’s Locations: Japan, Hawaii, Tokyo, United States, ”, Washington, I’ll