Taufatofua: “What hasn't been affected is the heart of the people." [1]
Thursday, February 15, 2018 - 20:14. Updated on Monday, August 17, 2020 - 17:25.
A press conference was specially organized today for Tonga’s Olympic skier, Pita Taufatofua in PyeongChang, South Korea where he told journalists from around the world that Tongans were coping well in the aftermath of Cyclone Gita because of a “unique personality”.
At a specially organised press conference, Pita told journalists, “They laugh at everything. They joke about everything. And they do it in a way that they can make light of anything. It could be the worst possible circumstance and they find some way of turning it into a positive. And that's something very unique about Polynesians, Pacific islanders.”
“If there's a specific message to them, you know, we will rebuild. We've been rebuilding for a thousand years; we've had cyclones come before. What hasn't been affected is the heart of the people."
Pita’s 10km Cross-Country Race starts tomorrow at 3:00pm local time (11:00am in Tonga) where he will compete against skiers from around the world, including highly experienced athletes from winter power nations such as Sweden, Norway and the United States.
Despite the odds against him, Pita – who possesses only a few months of ski racing experience – told journalists that his motivation was to inspire people.
Pita stated, “If you look at the Olympic creed, it's about struggle. The guy who gets a gold medal, he's gonna burn his lungs until he collapses at the finish line. The guy who comes last is gonna burn his lungs until he collapses at the finish line. None of them are gonna give up. One may be faster than the other but they're still gonna give everything that they have.”
There are 80 athletes in the event. "I think 80 in that race, who don't get a medal. There's gonna be 80 million behind them who do cross-country skiing...But it's the struggle that's gonna translate to all other areas of life for all of these other 80-plus million people. What is it that we do with that, that inspires those millions of kids that are watching, to push through with their challenges in life? That's the Olympic spirit, and that's what's important for me."