Young German women find strength in sumo
Sumo wrestling is not typically associated with Germany or women. But these teens are proving that they don't have to fit stereotypes to find success in this martial art.
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00:00No matter who I tell, I do sumo, they all look at me with big eyes and say,
00:06what, you don't look like that at all.
00:08Because everyone always has this image of a little fatter men in Japan in front of them.
00:14And then they see me like that and say, she doesn't look like that now.
00:20I'm Lucy Fiedler, I'm 17 years old and I won the second place at the U21 European Championships this year.
00:26I'm Marie-Louise Zugschwert, I'm 19 years old this year.
00:29Last year I won the world championship title at the U18 in Japan and I'm a double European champion.
00:37Stop!
00:50When I won the competition, I couldn't believe it at first.
00:54But when everyone hugged me and clapped, I was like, okay, you really got a third place.
01:07No, I can't do it.
01:19With us, the rules of sumo are actually completely simple.
01:22With us, it's about, first of all, you don't sleep out of the ring.
01:26And above all, you don't sleep on the other side of the mat, where your feet are or where your legs are.
01:30You have to fit in the knots.
01:32So, I have to say, that's forbidden.
01:37That's forbidden.
01:38And in front, the same.
01:39Slap, bite, normal things, everything is forbidden.
01:53We have to go forward, because the children will always support us, of course.
01:57If I could go to Japan every time, that would be something like a learning factor for me.
02:27I think it's very nice that so many women are also involved in sumo.
02:30And that they can fight fair and easy and show that they can do the same as men.