Fuahea Semi
Semi at the Luge World Cup in Oberhof 2013
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Fuahea Semi |
| Nationality | Tongan |
| Born | December 4, 1987 |
| Sport | |
| Country | Tonga |
| Sport | Luge |
Bruno Banani (born Fuahea Semi; 4 December 1987) is a Tongan luger who adopted his current name as part of a marketing hoax.
A 21-year-old computer science student, he was selected by his country to attempt to qualify for the luge events at the 2010 Winter Olympics, as the first ever Tongan to participate in the Winter Olympic Games. Along with Taniela Tufunga, a young recruit in the Tonga Defence Service who would serve as his potential replacement and training partner, he travelled to Germany for training. He ultimately failed to qualify for the Games. He did, however, qualify to take part in the FIL World Luge Championships 2011 (which took place in January), where he finished 36th (last but one), eliminated after the first run with a time of 56.698.
In the meantime, he had been sponsored by a marketing firm, Makai, which presented him to the public under the name "Bruno Banani" – the name of a German underwear firm. He entered into an "endorsement deal" with the latter, "promoting [its] new line dubbed Coconut Power", which the company said "was inspired by him, attributing his sporting prowess to the quality of the coconuts he consumes". To enhance his appeal, he was presented as the son of a coconut farmer, although his father in reality was a cassava farmer. Makai reportedly obtained a passport for Semi under this new name, and he was universally referred to in the media, as well as by the International Luge Federation and the Chinese Olympic Committee, as "Banani". German media were reportedly "fascinated" by this Tongan luger bearing such a coincidental name;ZDF reportedly "suggested that the touching, exotic story of the luger from the South Sea bore similarities to that of the Jamaican bobsled team" at the 1988 Winter Olympics. Before this transformation, some media had referred to Semi by his true name, including the Samoa Observer and Radio Australia, based on an article in Matangi Tonga which is no longer available but which was used at the time as a source in the . In December 2011, the Vancouver Sun referred to him as Banani, adding that when he had first arrived in Germany he had been "going by his given name Fuahea Semi":
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