Tonga's bare-chested Rio Olympic flag-bearer punches Pyeongchang ticket
Pita Taufatofua seeks Olympic redemption with switch from Taekwondo to cross-country
If not by name, Pita Taufatofua is certainly recognizable by, ahem, more visual characteristics.
Tonga's topless, oil slathered flag-bearer became a viral sensation during Rio's opening ceremony.
And now, less than two years later, he's once again pursuing Olympic glory…though don't expect him to be showing as much skin as he trades his taekwondo uniform for a cross-country ski suit.
What do you think of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TGA?src=hash">#TGA</a> flag bearer Pita Nikolas Aufatofua? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DoubleGlazed?src=hash">#DoubleGlazed</a> 😍 <a href="https://t.co/JAoL0ve2RK">https://t.co/JAoL0ve2RK</a> <a href="https://t.co/aMTtysU7l4">https://t.co/aMTtysU7l4</a>
—@CBCOlympicsOn Saturday, Taufatofua became the first Tongan skier to qualify for a Winter Olympics.
The fighter decided to make the switch to cross-country skiing following his disappointing first-round exit in Brazil.
"After Rio I decided to find the hardest sport possible because I needed a new challenge," says the 34-year-old.
"You've got to put your body through something really challenging and the goal was to do it in one year - and we did it in one year!"
And yet, even after shedding over 30 pounds, qualification for Pyeongchang came down Taufatofua's final cross-country race in Iceland.
"I thought there's one race left, it's the end of the world, in the arctic circle. I thought, 'I have to give it my all - it's grave or glory' and I gave it absolutely everything."
The journey, however, has come at a steep cost, one that Taufatofua has documented on social media.
"We sacrificed everything to be here - financially, I am in the worst position ever but I am the happiest ever."