The oiled-up athlete who reportedly ‘broke the internet’ after he bared his six pack for the second time at an Olympic Opening Ceremony said today: ‘They should get a stronger internet.’
Pita Taufatofua, 34, whose ribbed torso had women swooning the world over, indicated he may already found love since achieving global fame at Rio in 2016 and once again last night in PyeongChang at the opening of the 2018 Winter Olympics.
He didn’t medal in Rio in taekwondo and he doesn’t expect to be on the winner’s rostrum when his cross country skiing event is over, but he knows he has already become a heart throb.
Asked by Daily Mail.com three times whether he had a girlfriend, he declined to answer the question and would only say: ‘Am I single? Well… I’m married to sport. The sport always takes everything.
‘But I have got to keep my private life private and protect others too.
Flag bearer Pita Taufatofua of Tonga leads the team during the Opening Ceremony of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games
‘There is a lot (from me) in the public eye when I walk out with oil, lift my arms up waving the Tongan flag. That is quite public.
‘I am actually quite a private person…there’s a lot of stuff that I keep private.
‘I am just a regular guy, an ordinary person who has one thing a little different, but that anybody else can have.’
Asked if that meant his famous six pack, he laughed and added:’ Well, It is more like a three pack today as I had a load of fried chicken last night after the opening ceremony.
‘But what it is, is that I don’t give up. I am always determined.
‘Am I a heart throb? That depends on who you ask.
‘They have been writing that I broke the internet. They need to fix the internet if it keeps breaking man.’
He had more than 1,000 emails today and countless interview requests but spoke to Daily Mail.com first to talk about his decision to appear in just his red-and-black grass skirt, sandals and with coconut oil all over his body in sub-zero temperatures.
Pita Taufatofua, the only Tongan athlete and flag bearer for Tonga, who for the second time bared his six chest at the Pyeongchang 2018 opening ceremony , after he did the same at the 2016 Rio games
‘It was pretty cold. The actual walk wasn’t so. It was actually quite warm. I didn’t feel anything because my adrenalin was high.
‘But when I sat down and I was still, it started to get a bit cold. I got a jacket on to keep my shoulders warm.’
He had led interested parties to believe before last night’s ceremony that he would take caution and layer up to beat off the big freeze, with temperatures dipping onto double minus figures.
But as the other athletes paraded in puffy jackets, mittens and woolly hats to stave off the cold, he entered the Olympic Stadium in his Tongan attire much to the delight of female fans watching across the world on television.
He had said that he wanted to ‘be alive’ after the ceremony which weather forecasters had warned would be staged in freezing conditions.
He said : ‘I’m still alive today, so I was honest. I said I was going to keep as warm as possible.
As the other athletes paraded in puffy jackets, mittens and woolly hats to stave off the cold, he entered the Olympic Stadium in his Tongan attire much to the delight of female fans watching across the world on television.
‘We are Polynesians. Everyone is worried about the cold, but our warmth comes from within.
‘Tongans sailed across the seas for a thousand years. And we can be out in the ocean for months on end in the ice cold.
‘I had no problems. It wasn’t cold.’
He added: ‘It was never my goal to be famous.
‘It would be a waste of my energy if that was the case. If it was just about me and my fame, me and mycelebrity status, that would be so boring for me.
‘It has to be about something bigger than that and something that goes on forever.’
He said he was motivated to inspire other young Tongans that they too could be successful and he fekt he had showed that by switching from the martial arts in Rio 2016 to cross country skiing.
He had never ventured out onto the slopes until a year ago and reached the Olympic standards in the discipline after Rio when his thirst for international competition mushroomed.
Pita had never ventured out onto the slopes until a year ago and reached the Olympic standards in the discipline after Rio when his thirst for international competition mushroomed
He didn’t medal in Rio in taekwondo and he doesn’t expect to be on the winner’s rostrum when his cross country skiing event is over, but he knows he has already become a heart throb
‘From a personal perspective it is a new challenge. But maybe I have got the magic formula and maybe I have got something special.
And if I can then apply that, it could turn s out I might have the right spice to present Tonga to the world.
‘I want to open up opportunities to Tongans to see this now and t see this sport.’
The athlete, born in Australia of Tongan parents, said he did not believe the national sport of rugby in his fatherland was the only thing youngsters should follow.
‘It can’t always be rugby to Tonga. There are 100 different sports you can be successful in.
Let’s open up doorways and opportunities to give others great experiences and help them look after their families at the same time.
‘That’s what I want to do. The reaction has been very positive
‘But It doesn’t matter what I do or say there is always going to be negativity, but that is always like fraction of a per cent.
‘But 99.99 per cent is people are like ‘ Wow… how the hell did you do that and say well the same way you can do it. Go and try and do something.
‘Being an Olympian is a representation of something bigger than yourself.
The Olympic decree is about struggle, about pushing through.’
He qualified for Korea in Iceland at his last attempt and said he wanted to show others never to give up ‘ at the final hurdle’ and to keep on trying.
Tonga’s only previous entrant at the Winter Olympics was Fuahea Semi, who finished 32nd out of 39 in the men’s luge in Sochi four years ago.