List of Famous people born in Mongolia
Hakuhō Shō
Hakuhō Shō is a professional sumo wrestler (rikishi) from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Making his debut in March 2001, he reached the top makuuchi division in May 2004. In May 2007 at the age of 22 he became the second native of Mongolia, and the fourth non-Japanese overall, to be promoted to the highest rank in sumo, yokozuna.
Terunofuji Haruo
Terunofuji Haruo (Japanese: 照ノ富士 春雄, born 29 November 1991 as Gantulgyn Gan-Erdene is a Mongolian professional sumo wrestler from Ulaanbaatar who wrestles for the Isegahama stable. He entered sumo in January 2011, and took the second division jūryō championship in his debut as a sekitori in September 2013. He took the top makuuchi division championship in May 2015, only 25 tournaments after his professional debut, which is third behind the renowned Asashōryū and Takanohana's 23 tournaments. This earned him promotion to sumo's second highest rank of ōzeki. He has been runner-up in four other tournaments, and has four special prizes for Fighting Spirit and Outstanding Performance.
Asashōryū Akinori
Asashōryū Akinori is a Mongolian former professional sumo wrestler (rikishi). He was the 68th yokozuna in the history of the sport in Japan and became the first Mongolian to reach sumo's highest rank in January 2003. He was one of the most successful yokozuna ever. In 2005, he became the first wrestler to win all six official tournaments (honbasho) in a single year. Over his entire career, he won 25 top division tournament championships, placing him fourth on the all-time list.
Harumafuji Kōhei
Harumafuji Kōhei , previously known as Ama Kōhei , is a Mongolian former professional sumo wrestler. He was the sport's 70th yokozuna from 2012 to 2017, making him the third Mongolian and fifth overall non-Japanese wrestler to attain sumo's highest rank.
Takanoiwa Yoshimori
Takanoiwa Yoshimori is a retired sumo wrestler from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. He made his professional debut in January 2009. He has both a sandanme and a jūryō division championship. He reached the jūryō division in July 2012 and the top makuuchi division for the first time in January 2014. He was the only wrestler recruited by former yokozuna Takanohana to reach the elite sekitori ranks. He was runner-up in one top division tournament and earned two special prizes, one for Fighting Spirit and one for Outstanding Performance. His highest rank was maegashira 2.
Tamawashi Ichirō
Tamawashi Ichirō is a Mongolian professional sumo wrestler from Ulaanbaatar. He made his debut in January 2004 and reached the top makuuchi division in September 2008. His highest rank has been sekiwake. He has a makushita, a jūryō and a makuuchi division championship. He has three gold stars for defeating a yokozuna, and three special prizes. He wrestles for Kataonami stable. He has not missed a bout in his career to date and has the longest streak of consecutive matches among active wrestlers. In January 2019, he won his first top-division championship at the age of 34.
Khaltmaagiin Battulga
Khaltmaagiin Battulga is a Mongolian politician and sambo wrestler who has served as President of Mongolia since July 2017. He served as Member of the State Great Khural from 2004 to 2016 and Minister of Roads, Transportation, Construction and Urban Development from 2008 to 2012. Before his career in politics, Battulga was a sambo wrestling champion. He was the Democratic Party's candidate in the 2017 presidential election and was elected President with 50.6% in the run-off, the first-ever run-off election in modern Mongolian history. Mongolians are sharply divided about his role in the 2019 Mongolian constitutional crisis.
Hōshōryū Tomokatsu
Hōshōryū Tomokatsu is a professional sumo wrestler from Mongolia and wrestles for Tatsunami stable. He is known for his throwing skills, even when measured among Mongolian sumo wrestlers, who tend to use throws more than average reflecting the skills used in Bökh. He is the nephew of former yokozuna Asashōryū.
Kyokutenhō Masaru
Kyokutenhō Masaru in Nalaikh, Ulan Bator, Mongolia is a former professional sumo wrestler. He fought out of Ōshima stable, with the first group of Mongolians ever to join the sport in Japan.
Ganzorigiin Mandakhnaran
Ganzorigiin Mandakhnaran is a male Mongolian wrestler who competes in the 66 kg category in freestyle wrestling. He was born in Tuv province of Mongolia. He is a two-time world bronze medalist and Ivan Yarygin 2016.
Kyokushūzan Noboru
Kyokushūzan Noboru is a former professional sumo wrestler and current politician of the Democratic Party in Mongolia. He was the first wrestler from Mongolia to reach sumo's top makuuchi division.
Kiribayama Tetsuo
Kiribayama Tetsuo is a Mongolian professional sumo wrestler from Ulaanbaatar. He made his debut in March 2015 and reached the top makuuchi division in January 2020. He wrestles for Michinoku stable. His highest rank has been maegashira 1.
Ichinojō Takashi
Ichinojō Takashi is a Mongolian professional sumo wrestler from Arkhangai. He is notable as being the second foreign-born wrestler, and the first of non-Japanese descent allowed to debut at an elevated rank in the third makushita division due to his amateur sumo success. In only his third professional tournament he took the second division jūryō championship. In his fifth professional tournament, his first in the top makuuchi division, he was the runner-up and promoted all the way to sekiwake, his highest rank to date. He was one of the heaviest rikishi in the top division as of September 2020.
Nadya Rusheva
Nadya Rusheva was a Russian artist. Having started drawing from the age of five, she had created over 10,000 artworks before dying at the age of 17.
Tsuyoshi Arawashi
Arawashi Tsuyoshi is a former professional sumo wrestler from Ulan Bator, Mongolia. He made his professional debut in November 2002. He is the 21st Mongolian to reach the top makuuchi division, which he achieved in May 2014. His 68-tournament rise through the ranks is the second-slowest progress for a foreign wrestler after Sentōryū. He won three kinboshi or gold stars for defeating yokozuna. He was a member of three stables, Araiso, Hanakago and Minezaki. His highest rank was maegashira 2.
Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj
Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj is a Mongolian politician who served as President of Mongolia from 2009 to 2017. He previously served as Prime Minister in 1998 and again from 2004 to 2006.
Asasekiryū Tarō
Asasekiryū Tarō is a former sumo wrestler. He made his debut in January 2000, reaching the top makuuchi division in March 2003. He won four special prizes, and spent a total of five tournaments in the titled san'yaku ranks. The highest rank was sekiwake. He was a runner-up in two tournaments in 2004 and 2007. After 2013 he was mainly ranked in the lower jūryō and makushita divisions. He acquired Japanese citizenship in April 2017 and retired from active competition the following month. He became a coach at Takasago stable under the elder name Nishikijima Oyakata. In November 2020 he became head coach of Takasago stable.
Khurelsukh Ukhnaa
Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh is a Mongolian politician who served as Prime Minister of Mongolia from 4 October 2017 to 27 January 2021. He is the current chairman of the ruling party, the Mongolian People's Party. He was elected to the Parliament of Mongolia three times – in 2000, 2004, 2012 and 2020, served in the Mongolian government as Minister for Emergency Situations from 2004 to 2006, Minister for Professional Inspection from 2006 to 2008, and in 2014–2015 and 2016–2017 as Deputy Prime Minister of Mongolia. Also he was the Secretary-General of Mongolian People's Party from 2008 to 2012.
Jügderdemidiin Gürragchaa
Jügderdemidiin Gürragchaa was the first Mongolian in space. He also was Mongolia's Defense Minister from 2000–04.
Mitoryū Takayuki
Mitoryū Takayuki is a Mongolian professional sumo wrestler from Ulaanbaatar. He began his professional sumo career in 2017 at the age of twenty three. His highest rank to date has been Jūryō 4. He wrestles for the Nishikido stable.