Anna Zhigalova

Anna Poliakova

Personal information
Birth name	Anna Zhigalova
Full name	Полякова Анна Сергеевна
Nationality	Russia
Born	(1981-12-10) 10 December 1981 (age 43) Izhevsk, Udmurt, USSR
Years active	2003–Present
Height	186 cm (6 ft 1 in) [1]
Weight	165 kg (364 lb) [2]
Sport
Sport	Sumo
Medal record Women's Sumo Representing   Russia Sumo World Championships Wan Chai 2012 Heavyweight Kaohsiung 2014 Openweight Ulaanbaatar 2013 Openweight Taoyuan 2018 Openweight Osaka 2019 Heavyweight World Games [3] Kaohsiung 2009 Heavyweight Kaohsiung 2009 Openweight Cali 2013 Heavyweight Cali 2013 Openweight Wrocław 2017 Heavyweight Wrocław 2017 Openweight World Combat Games St. Petersburg 2013 Heavyweight St. Petersburg 2013 Openweight

Anna Poliakova (maiden name Anna Zhigalova) ^{[1] [4] [5]} is a Russian amateur sumo wrestler. She has won gold medals in both the heavyweight and openweight categories in the 2009, 2013 and 2017 World Games. ^[1] She has also won seven golds at the Sumo World Championships. In 2018 she was nominated for the World Games Athlete of the Year award. ^[1]

Biography

She was born in Izhevsk, Udmurt Republic. ^[6]

She played volleyball from the age of six to twelve, ^[6] and handball between from thirteen to twenty-one. ^[4] She is a graduate from Udmurt State University. ^[6] She has experience working as a swimming instructor in kindergarten. ^[4] She began Sumo training at September 2003. ^[6]

Competition

• She won the heavyweight class on 28 October 2012, at the 9th World Sumo Championships in Wan Chai. ^[7]
• In 2013, she won the heavyweight and openweight divisions of the World Games 2013 Women's Sumo held in Cali, Colombia. ^{[5] [8]}
• On 18 and 19 October of the same year, he won the heavyweight and openweight divisions at the 2nd World Combat Games Women's Championship held in St. Petersburg, Russia.
• On 31 August 2014, she won the Openweight class at the 10th World Women's Sumo Championships held in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
• On 30 July 2016, she won the 12th World Women's Sumo Championships in Mongolia in the individual open weight class.
• On 22 and 23 July 2017, she won the women's division of the 10th World Games 2017 in Wroclaw, Poland, in the heavyweight and openweight divisions.
• On 22 July 2018, she won the 13th World Women's Sumo Championships openweight individual competition at the Taoyuan Arena in Taiwan.
• On 13 October 2019, she won the individual heavyweight class at the 14th World Women's Sumo Championships held at Ohama Sumo Stadium in Sakai City, Japan.

References

1. "Peerless Zhigalova dominates women's sumo". Japan Times. 17 April 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
2. "Самозащита" (PDF). ГБОУ Школа. 2017. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
3. "Result history of The World Games | IWGA". www.theworldgames.org. Retrieved 29 August 2025.
4. ""Мне не страшно". Как сумоистка Анна Полякова стала сильнейшей в мире". 16 August 2016.
5. "平成25年の試合記録・結果" [2013 Match Records / Results] (in Japanese). Japan Sumo Federation. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
6. "Новости » Заслуженный Мастер Спорта Анна Полякова - самая титулованная сумоистка в мире! | Федерация сумо России" . Retrieved 3 July 2021.
7. "9th Women's Sumo World Championships Results" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 21 May 2013.
8. "World Games 2013 Cali result book: Sumo" (PDF). worldgames2013.sportresult.com. Swiss Timing. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 September 2016.