Tonga's oiled flag-bearer a social media sensation [1]
Saturday, August 6, 2016 - 21:29. Updated on Friday, January 26, 2018 - 18:33.
Tonga's Olympic flag bearer Pita Taufatofua became an instant internet sensation when he walked into the Opening Ceremony of the Rio Olympics today [noon-4:00pm Tonga time] dressed like a Tongan dancer glistening with oil.
Trending tags are #taufatofua #flagbearer and #tongaflagbearer.
Pita's attracted a lot of attention for Tonga and also for his sport Taekwondo. After this he's sure to win some modelling contracts as the hottest man today in a town that's known for its appreciation of the body beautiful. Here's what Twitter and the news media are talking about:
Fox Sports: Tongan Flag-Bearer Pita Taufatofua Owns The Olympics Who was that shirtless Tonga flag bearer at the Olympics?The Parade of Nations is a pretty standard affair. Lots of outfits — some good, some bad, some cultural, some seemingly having nothing to do with anything related to the country at all. But every now and then there's a showstopper and, at the Brazilian Games, it just happened to be a shirtless, oiled-up guy from Tonga in traditional garb.
NY Daily News: Internet in a frenzy over Olympics hot flag-bearer, Pita Taufatofua — a Taekwondo athlete from Tonga. One Olympic athlete has already worked up quite a sweat — and he is also working the internet into one. Social media went into a quick meltdown on Friday night as Tonga Olympian Pita Taukatofua became an instant hit with viewers during the open ceremony for the Rio Olympics. The Taekwondo athlete led his country during the traditional parade of nations, proudly making a shirtless and oily entrance into Maracanã Stadium among his seven fellow non-shirtless teammates.
Some Cards: The internet's favorite outfit of the Olympic Opening Ceremony was Tonga's shirtless flag-bearer. [2] Tonga's Olympic delegation was led by Pita Taufatofua, a Taekwondo champion ranked #15 in the world. For some reason, he attracted a lot of attention
Wall Street Journal: Who Is Tonga’s Flag Bearer? Pita Nikolas Taufatofua is emerging as a star after his grand entrance during the opening ceremonies...The little-known taekwondo athlete was selected by his countrymen to be the official flag bearer for the South Pacific nation of Tonga, and made perhaps the grandest entrance by any flag bearer in recent history, appearing shirtless, greased, and smiling broadly in the middle of one of the most watched televised programs in the world. The chiseled athlete became an instant Twitter sensation.
USA Today: Introducing the Tonga flagbearer who glistened during Rio Olympic opening ceremony Tonga is mostly an overlooked country at the Olympics, with a rather small delegation and just one medal in its entire history, a silver in 1996. But it provided perhaps the most memorable moment of the Parade of Nations on Friday when its flag-bearer came out bare-chested and dressed in nothing but a ta’ovala (Tongan mat) wrapped around his waist and copious amounts of oil on his torso. Rio is a city that has never been shy about celebrating the human form and Taufatofua’s appearance was greeted with loud roars of approval.
CBS Sports: Oiled up Tongan flag bearer is the real MVP of the opening ceremony Tonga made sure it was going to be noticed. When Gisele Bundchen walked across the runway of Maracana stadium during the 2016 Rio Olympics opening ceremony, we were pretty sure she stole the show. But that was before the Tongan flag bearer came into our lives. Chiseled, oiled up, and donning what I can only assume is traditional Tongan dress, he walked into the stadium and immediately won the night. He's like a Tongan Hulk Hogan. This guy just stepped up the flag-bearer game for years to come.