1. One of the few.
Svetlana Panteleeva.
-a five-times world
champion in the
middleweight;
-the strongest sumo
wrestler on the planet;
a silver medalist at the
2004 World
Championship in the
team competition;
-a champion in 2000
and in 2007.

2. The first meeting.
I didn’t recognize her
when I first saw her.
Although I knew that
Svetlana is in a
category up to 80 kg (in
principle, it is not that
much), in my mind she
was a big girl of a brutal
appearance. I have never
thought of sumo
wrestlers as pretty
people, but she was very
pretty, even I can say

3. First, Svetlana was sent to dancing school, where she
had been studying for four years.
- «I did not like it. A teacher was young, with ambitions.
Yes, in general, I knew it»
Of course I did everything, but I would like just to get rid
of this choreography!
However, I must admit that in judo ,the choreography
classes were very helpful. Svetlana came to a section
flexible, with a good stretch .
Two months later, she won the first place in the city
competition.

4. Memories.
My coach got a call from the Sumo
Federation that asked him to find athletes.
He decided that I could be there.
Two weeks later I went to an international
tournament in Tver. On the way to Tver for
the first time I was reading the rules of
sumo, and in Tver I saw, a mawashi .
I remember I went out with a smile, so it
was all fun. The ritual was so funny. I
laughed and at the same time fully
understand that it's mine.
At the European Championship Svetlana
was the third. In 2001 she was invited to
the Federation of Judo and she chose
judo.

5. To cope with health problems.
“…The knee was aching badly, the
doctors could not understand what
was the matter. And Svetlana for
the second time failed to organise a
team in judo. Then the operation, a
long recovery. In 2003, she returned
to the Sumo and immediately
became the second in the
championship of Russia.”

6. Katinanori
A a n e x p e rim e nt, Id e c id e d to
s
e x p e rie nc e the p o we r o f s um o .
Sve tla na ha s a g re e d to fig ht with m e .
Do ha , ho we ve r, wa s a n im p ro vis e d
s q ua re , o ut o f the o rd ina ry s c ho o l
m a ts . We ha ve a lm o s t the s a m e we ig ht
c a te g o ry .

7. I joined Svetlana at her training session. She showed me some
of her wrestling techniques and revealed some sumo secrets.