Pita Taufatofua skis toward 2018 Winter Olympics [1]
Wednesday, December 7, 2016 - 17:38. Updated on Tuesday, January 30, 2018 - 15:21.
Move over Taekwondo, Pita Taufatofua is transitioning to another ‘cooler’ sport, cross-country skiing.
Famously known as Tonga’s bare chested flag bearer at the Rio Olympics, the taekwondo athlete is taking up skiing in a bid to represent Tonga at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
In a video released on the Olympic Channel yesterday, a very excited Pita proudly announced his next goal, to be Tonga’s first ever male cross-country skier at the Winter Olympics.
“I spent my whole life chasing my Olympic dream and that was to become an Olympian in 2016.”
“I’m going to be taking my Olympic dream one step further and I’m going to be representing Tonga, in Tonga’s cross-country skiing,” said Pita.
“But first I’ve got to get across there. So I’ve got to qualify and my goal is to let people see, if I can do it, they can do it.”
He said the change from taekwondo to skiing is “a different sort of workout. It’s a little bit colder” but his goal is to "hunt down that Olympic medal".
Pita joins four other skiers based in Europe vying to to represent Tonga by qualifying for the 2018 Winter Olympics.
They include Kasete Skeen, Makeleta Piukala, Reinhard Langer and Dyan Wackerbauer.
Tonga historically joined the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi for the first time when Bruno Banani qualified in luge and placed 32nd out of 39 lugers, six seconds short of the winner and Gold medallist.
Related article: http://matangitonga.to/2016/07/17/skiers-have-chance-represent-tonga [2]