WELLINGTON- Tongan athlete Pita Taufatofua -- the bare-chested flag-bearer who became an online sensation at both the Rio and Pyeongchang Olympics -- plans to break out the baby oil once again and compete at the Tokyo Games in 2020.
After travelling to Brazil as a taekwondo fighter and South Korea as a cross-country skier, Taufatofua is aiming to paddle his way to the Tokyo Olympics as a kayaker.
“I'm trying to be the first person in the modern Olympics to do three unrelated sports,” said the 35-year-old, who will also attempt to compete again in taekwondo in Japan.
“You'll have indoor sports, winter with the cross country skiing and water,” he told AFP.
“I grew up in a kayak on the ocean, so it's not such a big leap for me.” Taufatofua first captured global attention when he appeared at the Rio opening ceremony shirtless in 2016, his torso glistening in oil and wearing just a traditional Tongan ta'ovala mat around his waist.After the ceremony he went viral, racking up 45 million mentions on Twitter and later appearing on US talk shows.
He repeated his performance two years later at Pyeongchang, this time risking frostbite in sub-zero temperatures.
Brisbane-born but fiercely proud of his Tongan heritage, Taufatofua had been practising taekwondo for 15 years before the Rio Games. - AFP
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