Shirtless flag-bearer from Rio Games is trying to qualify for the Winter Olympics
After his appearance in the 2016 opening ceremony, Pita Taufatofua is vying to be a Winter Games athlete
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1 min read
Do you ever find yourself wondering what happened to that shirtless, oiled-up flag-bearer from the 2016 Rio Games?
You know, the one who grazed through the opening ceremony with nothing but a Tongan garment wrapped around his waist, then proceeded to ride his inevitable wave of social media fame into the Summer Olympics' closing ceremony.
Well, he's back. And he's back for a whole lot more than flag waving.
Pita Taufatofua, the Parade of Nations star himself, is set to participate in an upcoming cross-country event in Poland with the hope of qualifying for the 2018 PyeongChang Games -- not as a ceremony reprisal but as a competing athlete, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Taufatofua, 34, is no stranger to Olympic athletics. He became the first Tongan to ever qualify for the Summer Games when he entered 2016 for taekwondo. But the ripped flag-bearer, who unsurprisingly boasts a history of male modeling, also never competed on snow before 2016, and he's trying to get into South Korea's Winter Olympics as none other than a cross-country skier.
As ESPN reported this week, the Tongan has a legitimate chance of cracking the PyeongChang roster by February:
Taufatofua, who finished 153rd out of 156 skiers at the 2017 world championships in Finland, needs to meet a time standard in five races by the Jan. 21 cutoff. He was able to reach the mark in four roller-skiing events. If he can do so on skis in Poland, he would become a two-time, two-sport Olympian.
No word yet on whether Taufatofua's qualification hinges on skiing shirtless.
