Pita Nikolas Taufatofua is the first Tongan to qualify for the Rio Olympic in August after he won a gold medal in the Taekwondo Oceania Olympic Qualification Tournament in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea on Saturday, 27 February.

Pita competed in the +80kg category, and as it could be expected it was a tough battle all the way. In his two final bouts, the semi-final against a Papua New Guinean, he won by one point 4-3. 

He went on to win his final bout against the New Zealand Heavy Weight Champion Daffyd Sanders, ranked the number 1 Fighter in Oceania, and number 15 in the World.

However, it was a fight to the end for the win. At the end of the three rounds bout it was a draw 2-2 points. They went into a fourth ‘Golden Round’ with "the first to score point wins", and Pita came out victorious, winning the Gold medal and a place at the Rio Olympic.

Taekwondo was introduced to Tonga 20 years ago and Pita Taufatofua is the first Tongan athlete to qualify for the Olympics in Taekwondo. He will be one of 128 Taekwondo fighters who will be battling for medals in Rio in August.