Another slick entrance: Bare-chested Tongan flag-bearer Pita Taufatofua slides into Pyeongchang
CBC Sports | Posted: February 9, 2018 1:59 PM | Last Updated: December 14, 2021
34-year-old cross-country skier makes another memorable arrival at opening ceremony
By Amy Cleveland, CBC Sports
With the temperature feeling like -10 C in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Tonga's flag-bearer Pita Taufatofua made another slick impression at an Olympic opening ceremony.
This time, the iconic, oiled-up Olympian brought the heat to the Olympic Winter Games on Friday as Tonga's lone representative in 2018.
The 34-year-old first slid onto the world stage at the Rio Olympics in 2016, causing a near meltdown on the internet when –shirtless and gleaming – he led the Tongan delegation into the ceremony.
Taufatofua made his Olympic debut in Rio with a disappointing first-round taekwondo exit, so he set his sights on Pyeongchang.
He only recently made the unlikely jump to cross-country, extensively documenting his journey — which included shedding 30 pounds — on Instagram.