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Tonga's topless flagbearer to ski in Olympics

January 21, 2018

Pita Taufatofua shot to worldwide fame as the bare-chested and oiled Tongan athlete who carried his country's flag at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Now he's qualified for the Pyeongchang Winter Games as a cross-country skier.

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Pita Taufatofua carrying his flag at the opening ceremony in Brazil
Image: picture alliance/dpa/M. Kappeler

The Tongan taekwondo athlete, who garnered international attention at the Olympic opening ceremony in Brazil two years ago, said he had gone "to the end of the world" to book a place in South Korea.

A beaming Pita Taufatofua told the Olympic Channel he had made the cut after a series of cross-country skiing races in the last possible qualifying round in Iceland. 

"I have just qualified Tonga for the Winter Olympics, the first time in history," the 34-year-old said. "This was the last day of the qualification process. This was the last race possible and we did it."

Pita Taufatofua
Taufatofua will be certainly be more rugged up when he competes as a cross-country skier at the Winter Games in South KoreaImage: picture alliance/dpa/H. Schmidt

Taufatofua's last-ditch push in Iceland came after almost a year of training on roller skis in the heat of his tropical island home and at his base in Brisbane, Australia.

"I've probably had maybe 10 weeks all up on snow because there is no snow where I'm from," he said.

A new challenge

Taufatofua competed in taekwondo at the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro. But after crashing out in the first round, the athlete announced he was on the lookout for a new challenge.

He chose cross-country skiing and set his sights on becoming the first Tongan male athlete to compete in the Olympic event. But reaching his goal was far from easy. 

"I had seven races and they all failed. I did my best but I fell short each time, and I thought there's one race left and it's at the end of the world," he said. "We're in the Arctic circle. We're in Iceland, and I thought, 'I have to give it all. It's grave or glory.' And I gave it absolutely everything and I'm so happy."

Pita Taufatofua competes in taekwondo at the Rio Olympics in Brazil
From taekwondo to cross-country skiing: Pita Taufatofua has made history by qualifying for the Winter OlympicsImage: picture alliance/AP/A. Medichini

Taufatofua's bid to make it to the Olympics has also taken a financial toll, with much of his funding coming from a crowd-funding campaign.

"We sacrificed everything to be here. Financially I'm in the worst position ever but I'm the happiest ever," he said.

"People don't see the hard work that goes behind (it), they just see the shiny guy that walks with the flag."

nm/rc (Reuters, AFP)