Oiled-up Olympian puts world media in meltdown

TONGA – Tongan Olympian Pita Nikolas Taufatofua became a social media sensation during the opening ceremonies for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro on Friday, when he carried Tonga’s flag into the arena, bare chested and totally oiled up.

Taufatofua’s march around the Olympic arena rivalled the appearance of Brazilian super model Gisele Bündchen walking her final catwalk through Maracanã Stadium.

The Australian-born Taufatofua, 32, is competing in taekwondo and is the first Tongan athlete to qualify for the sport.

Before the opening ceremony, he hinted about “a little surprise” in a post on Instagram. “Don’t blink or you’ll miss it,” he wrote, including a wink.

Nobody was blinking and nobody missed the sight of the buffed, oiled flag bearer who with minutes of stepping into the stadium became an international media sensation.

The New York Daily News reported: “One Olympic athlete has already worked up quite a sweat and he is also working the internet into one.

“Social media went into a quick meltdown on Friday night as Tonga Olympian Pita Taukatofua became an instant hit with viewers during the open ceremony for the Rio Olympics.”

Tonga is mostly an overlooked country at the Olympics, with a rather small delegation of seven athletes this time around.

But, according to USA Today, it provided “perhaps the most memorable moment of the Parade of Nations on Friday when its Taufatfua came out dressed in nothing but a ta’ovala (Tongan mat) wrapped around his waist and copious amounts of oil on his torso”.

Rio is a city that has never been shy about celebrating the human form and Taufatofua’s appearance was greeted with loud roars of approval, the report said.

“Who is the mystery man? After his star turn on Friday, he won’t be a secret for long.

“It’s Pita Nikolas Taufatofua, who qualified for the Olympics through the Oceania taekwondo qualification tournament in April.

“The 32-year old had fallen short in his two previous attempts to make the Olympics.

“Very little else has been written about Taufatofua, but a website set up to raise money for his training indicates that he sacrificed his whole adult life working in homeless shelters with the underprivileged.”

According to his official biography, he was born in Australia but chose to compete for Tonga because of his father’s heritage. He lives and trains in Auckland, New Zealand.

USA Today reached Taufatofau’s friend Jacinta Sitapa by telephone from her home in New Zealand just moments after the Tonga team paraded on the infield.

Sitapa revealed that the idea to wear Tongan national dress, the concept of which dates back hundreds of years, had been Taufatofua’s idea alone.

“This is the first time Tonga has done something like that,” Sitapa said. “It was important to Pita. He is very patriotic and loves Tongan culture. He didn’t know if he was going to be picked to carry the flag, but if he did he strongly felt that it should be something that represented the country.”

- PNC sources