Pita Taufatofua, the Tongan who captured global attention as the oiled and topless flagbearer at the Rio Olympics, has again sent pulses racing by revealing his torso at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics.
The toned athlete – renowned for his film star looks – seemed unfazed by the bitter South Korean cold as he again waved the flag of his tiny Polynesian nation.
He is competing as a cross-country skier despite living in a tropical nation that has no snow. He competed in taekwondo in Rio.
Today in Pyeongchang: The cold-defying oiled physique of Tonga’s Pita Taufatofua has won many admirers
Back in Rio in 2016: Taufatofua became a social media sensation when he carried his country’s flag, his skin covered with coconut oil
The athlete’s decision again to go topless in South Korea comes despite him warning earlier that it was too cold to do so
The athlete’s decision to go topless comes despite him warning earlier that he would not be displaying much skin while competing this time.
In an interview with New Zealand Stuff the former flagbearer of the tiny Polynesian nation, 34, warned his adoring fans that he wanted to stay alive for his race.
‘It’s going to be freezing, so I will be keeping nice and warm,’ he said.
In 2016 there was good news for millions of admirers of the athlete worldwide: the oiled up Tongan – at the time the first person from his country to represent it in Olympic Taekwondo – was single and looking for love.
A complete unknown until the Rio curtain raiser, it later emerged that he was a part-time model and worked with homeless children – only adding to his allure.
Taufatofua at the time lived in Brisbane, Australia, but chose to represent Tonga, an island nation with a population of 105,000, because that is where his father comes from.
Taufatofua is his country’s only representative at the South Korean Winter Olympics
Before Rio the athlete has failed to qualify for three previous Olympics occasions and suffered a slate of serious injuries, including six broken bones and three torn ligaments.
But having finally made it, he was handed the honor of carrying the Tongan flag in the parade of nations wearing nothing but a ta’ovala, or Tongan mat.
Taufatofua – the only athlete from his country competing in South Korea – said the oil was part of a tradition in Tongan culture to accentuate the athlete’s power and sexual prowess.