JERSEY-BORN Nathan Rault has had a busy year: last June he signed up for a beginner Sumo wrestling workshop in Southampton, by next October he hopes to be fighting in the World Championship in Azerbaijan.
In the intervening period, he has carved out a reputation as one of the go-to faces of UK Sumo wrestling, appearing on both ITV’s This Morning and BBC’s most vaunted Saturday night vehicle – Michael McIntyre’s Big Show.
Nathan was formerly known in the Island for his prowess on the rugby field for teams like Beeches, Les Quennevais and Royals, but, after Covid, discovered a new, unlikely outlet in the world of Sumo.
He explained: “I’ve always been interested in contact sports, once I moved away [from Jersey] I struggled a bit with Covid and all of that stuff, I lost a bit of weight – then I looked at starting rugby again.”
“I decided I was getting too old and too injured for that”, he laughed. “I started looking around for another sport I could actually do, and I’ve actually seen [Sumo] on the TV – that’s when it first came up. I thought, that looks like a bit of fun.”
At a training workshop run by Sonny Bell, president of England Sumo, it became clear Nathan had a preternatural talent for a sport he had only previously ever seen on the TV.
“I really enjoyed it”, said Nathan. “Everyone was really encouraging about trying to keep me at it. I seemed to do really well in the training and it’s gone on from there.
“Within a couple of months, I took the jump and decided to go in my first competition – I didn’t medal but I got the ‘Fighting Spirit’ award.”
Nathan currently has his sights firmly fixed on the English Championships later this month, but is also dreaming of fighting in Azerbaijan in October at the World Championship.
But he says he will likely need sponsorship to cover flights, accommodation and other tournament-related costs.
“Because it’s not recognised by England Sport yet, it’s all fully self-funded [and] Azerbaijan is quite a long way to travel to,” he noted.
Several Islanders, he said, have already reached out to help – a promising sign indeed for the Jerseyman taking the world of Sumo by storm.
