Pita Taufatofua is making his third Olympic appearance for Tonga. Photo / AP
Pita Taufatofua is making his third Olympic appearance for Tonga. Photo / AP
He was the star of the opening ceremony at the 2016 Olympic Games, and again two years later as a winter Olympian in PyeongChang. Now Tonga's Pita Taufatofua is back for his third Olympics, catching the eye once more as his country's joint flag bearer in Tokyo.
Taufatofua shot to fame five years ago. Having qualified for the sport of taekwondo, he took a rather different approach to being named flag bearer for his native Tonga, going viral when he oiled himself up and appeared at the 2016 opening ceremony wearing nothing but a taʻovala (a Tongan mat which is wrapped around the waist) and a shell necklace.
Some initially assumed he was sweating profusely but it became apparent that he had applied copious amounts of oil to his torso.
Pita Taufatofua is making his third Olympic appearance for Tonga. Photo / AP
During the actual taekwondo tournament, Taufatofua was eliminated in his first bout but his fame lived on.
The 37-year-old was born in Australia but raised in Tonga. One of seven siblings, his father was an agricultural worker and his mother a nurse.
What has he been doing since Rio?
Quite a lot, actually. Not content with just five minutes of fame, he decided to have a tilt at the Winter Olympics for PyeongChang 2018, in the sport of cross-country skiing, no less.
Despite the obvious lack of access to snow, he began learning form and technique by watching YouTube videos of professional races and completed most of his qualification requirements in roller ski races, needing only to make a final qualifying time on snow.
As Tonga's second ever Winter Olympian, and their only representative in PyeongChang, flag-bearing honours once again fell to him - and he approached it just the same, going shirtless despite the freezing temperatures. As for the sport, he narrowly avoided finishing in last place, finishing 114th out of 119 skiers in the 15km freestyle race.
In his role as a Unicef ambassador Taufatofua has also spent time working with homelessness charities and young leaders programmes in his homeland while also raising awareness about the impacts of global warming. He has had no shortage of offers to make his story into a film, reportedly turning down a 'multi-million dollar' offer last year over concerns the documentary would have over-emphasised a Cool Runnings-style narrative that did not ring true.
Who did he carry the flag with at Tokyo 2020?
Malia Paseka (L) and Pita Taufatofua proudly hold the Tongan flag. Photo / AP
Tonga has taken six athletes to Tokyo for the Games, with athletes representing the sports of swimming, athletics, weightlifting and taekwondo.
It is the first time nations have been allowed to select male and female flag bearers together for the Games and Tonga duly opted for two athletes: Malia Paseka, Tonga's first female Olympian to compete in taekwondo, completing the sport's double act alongside Taufatofua.
What sport is Taufatofua competing in at Tokyo?
Taufatofua intended to make it three different sports competed in at three different Olympics, setting out his aim to compete in canoe sprint. He told BBC Sport in an interview that: "It's a sport that's close to my heart as it's what my ancestors did for thousands of years when they colonised the Polynesian islands."
He struggled to get his kayak facing the right way in the opening round heat of the World Canoe Sprint Championships in August 2019 and while still finishing the race, he was the slowest of 53 finishers among seven total heats. He was also unsuccessful at the Oceania continental qualifier in February 2020.
Disruption brought about by the coronavirus pandemic restricted Taufatofua's ability to push forward with his training but he refused to give up hope and still harboured canoe sprint Olympic dreams, even after managing to earn qualification for Tokyo 2020 back in his original sport of taekwondo.
