Tamawashi Ichirō

Tamawashi Ichirō (Japanese: 玉鷲 一朗; born 16 November 1984 as Batjargal Munkh-Orgil (Mongolian: Батжаргалын Мөнх-Оргил)) is a Mongolian-Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Ulaanbaatar. Wrestling for Kataonami stable, his highest rank has been sekiwake. He made his debut in January 2004 and reached the top makuuchi division in September 2008. He has a makushita, a jūryō and two makuuchi division championships. He has seven gold stars for defeating a yokozuna, and four special prizes, all of them coming after he turned 30 years of age. In January 2019, he won his first top-division championship, and his second in September 2022 at the age of 37, making him the oldest winner of the top division since the introduction of the six tournaments a year system in 1958.

Nicknamed "tetsujin" (鉄人, lit. 'iron man') and known as a "living legend" of the sport, Tamawashi has not missed a bout in his career to date (except for an enforced COVID-19 quarantine during the July 2022 tournament). Still an active wrestler, he has the longest streak of consecutive matches in sumo recorded history, setting the all-time consecutive match appearance record in his 1,631st consecutive match on 10 September 2024, during that month's grand sumo tournament in Tokyo.

At 40, he is also the oldest active makuuchi wrestler. He is second only to Sadanoumi in most tournament appearances among current sekitori-ranked wrestlers.

In March 2024 Tamawashi acquired Japanese citizenship in order to remain in the Sumo Association as a coach upon his retirement.