Pita Taufatofua
Taufatofua at the 2016 Olympics
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Pita Nikolas Taufatofua |
| Nickname(s) | Tonga Flag Bearer |
| Citizenship | Tongan |
| Born |
5 November 1983 Australia |
| Residence | Brisbane, Australia |
| Education | Tonga Side School Tonga High School Saint Peter's Lutheran College, Brisbane (graduated 2000) |
| Height | 1.92 m (6 ft 3 1⁄2 in) |
| Weight | 100 kg (220 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Taekwondo |
| Coached by | Vasini Piu Paul Sitapa |
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.
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.
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.
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.
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