Tonga flag-bearer Pita Taufatofua sets internet ablaze again at Olympics
Pita Taufatofua first captured the spotlight at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio when he served as the flag-bearer for Tonga, and he has returned to represent his country at a third straight Olympic Games in Japan.
Taufatofua walked alongside this year’s flag-bearer for Tonga at the Opening Ceremony in Tokyo on Friday. He was once again shirtless and oiled up, which led to a lot of excitement on Twitter.
Bruce with the line of the night six hours into this athletes march as Pita Taufatofua comes out swimming in baby oil for a third Games running.
'He's the Usain Bolt of flagbearers." pic.twitter.com/tS7nFgBYzF— Tony Harper (@toneharper) July 23, 2021
Tongan flag bearer Pita Taufatofua through the years. #Olympics #OpeningCeremony
2021 2018 2016 pic.twitter.com/mvDVeBAJvk
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) July 23, 2021
Savannah Guthrie was legitimately perfect when Pita Taufatofua came walking out for Tonga. "Let's just take a moment…" #OpeningCeremony
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) July 23, 2021
THE SHIRTLESS TONGAN HAS ARRIVED
Pita Taufatofua is at the Olympics once again.
He looks more greased-up this year. It's also very hot here tonight. #Tokyo2020
— Devin Heroux (@Devin_Heroux) July 23, 2021
There is no Olympics without Pita Taufatofua oiled up during the #OpeningCeremony pic.twitter.com/VRl0Y5Ivus
— Stacy Lambe (@sllambe) July 23, 2021
The Flag Bearer from Tonga still has not bought a shirt. #Tokyo2020 #Olympics #OpeningCeremony pic.twitter.com/vmN5erjZ2H
— Kris Pangilinan (@KrisReports) July 23, 2021
As Taufatofua noted on Twitter, he shared the flag-bearer duties this year with Malia Paseka, who is the first female to compete for Tonga in Taekwando at the Olympics.
A special congratulations to our Flag Bearer, Malia Paseka. She did an amazing job leading the way for more participation of females and youth in sport in Tonga. So proud to walk along side our first ever female taekwondo Olympian!
–@olympics @tokyo2020 @worldtaekwondo.pr pic.twitter.com/nb5wyj3ImV— Pita Taufatofua (@pitaTofua) July 23, 2021
Believe it or not, Taufatofua actually had some strong competition from another nation this year.
Uh oh! Tonga flag bearer now has some compeition. Here's the flag bearer for Vanuatu! #Tokyo2020 #Olympics #OpeningCeremony pic.twitter.com/E4hiIm8zPe
— Kris Pangilinan (@KrisReports) July 23, 2021
Taufatofua may have gone viral initially for his looks, but his athletic resume is also incredible. In addition to competing in Taekwando at the Summer Games, he was also Tonga’s only competitor at the 2018 Winter Olympics. He trained for just three months and had to rent equipment to compete in cross-country skiing in PyeongChang.
As for the greased-up look, Taufatofua explained years ago that it is about more than just making people drool.
