Coached by Vasini PiuPaul Sitapa Weight 100 kg | Height 1.92 m Other name Tonga Flag Bearer | |
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Full name Pita Nikolas Taufatofua Education St Peters Lutheran College Similar Sajjad Mardani, Alex Ranghieri, Amini Fonua, Jacob Dalton, Camille Lacourt Profiles | ||
Tongan taekwondo athlete pita taufatofua
Pita Nikolas Taufatofua (born 5 November 1983) is a Tongan taekwondo practitioner and skier from Australia. Taufatofua became widely known after footage of his appearance at the opening ceremony for the 2016 Olympics went viral.
Contents
- Tongan taekwondo athlete pita taufatofua
- Internet in a frenzy over olympics hot flag bearer pita taufatofua from tonga
- Early life
- Taekwondo career
- 2016 Summer Olympics
- Personal life
- References
Internet in a frenzy over olympics hot flag bearer pita taufatofua from tonga
Early life
Taufatofua was born in Australia on 5 November 1983 and raised in Tonga. He attended Tonga Side School and Tonga High School, and graduated from Saint Peter's Lutheran College in Brisbane in 2000. His father is Tongan and his mother is Australian of British descent. He began taekwondo at age five. His childhood included such traditional Tongan activities as Saturday farmwork harvesting cassava.
Taekwondo career
In the course of his career he has experienced, by one account, "six broken bones, three torn ligaments, three months in a wheelchair, a year and a half on crutches and hundreds of hours of physiotherapy".
At the 2016 Oceania Taekwondo Olympic Qualification Tournament in February in Port Moresby, New Guinea, he won his semi-final 4-3 before winning in the final against the 15th ranked fighter in the world to qualify for the 2016 Olympics. He had previously tried to qualify for the Olympics on two occasions. He was the first athlete from Tonga to compete in the Olympics in taekwondo. He was Tonga's flagbearer for the opening ceremony.
2016 Summer Olympics
During the opening ceremony for the 2016 Olympics, on 5 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Taufatofua, who bore his country's flag at the Parade of Nations, wore only a ta’ovala (a Tongan mat), wrapped around his waist and copious amounts of oil on his torso, which provided a very noticeable glossy shine. Taufatofua's shirtless appearance garnered him fame on social media as footage of his appearance went viral. During the taekwondo tournament, Taufatofua was eliminated in his first bout by the Iranian Sajjad Mardani once the score escalated to 16-1. Taufatofua made an appearance at the closing ceremony of the games, showing up after a musical number in the same costume he wore during the Parade of Nations.
Personal life
Taufatofua lives in Brisbane, Australia, where he trains six hours a day. He works at Sandgate House training homeless children to develop independent living skills.
He has an engineering degree and is working on his master's degree. He has also worked as a model since he was eighteen.