Tongas Olympic shirtless flag-bearer is back in all his glistening glory

Tonga’s icon Pita Taufatofua is back and how! The martial artist returned to the Olympics as the flag bearer for Tonga and once again left social media swooning over his oiled-shirtless look at the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics.

This marks his third entry as the flag bearer for Tonga, after causing a massive stir with his greased and ripped body at the 2016 Rio Games and the 2018 Winter Olympics at Pyeongchang.

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The multi-talented athlete attended the Winter Olympics in 2018 to compete in cross-country skiing. Being the only Tongan to appear at the Games, bare-chested Taufatofua didn’t seem to be affected by the cold at the time. He went on to finish 114th out of 119 competitors in the 15-kilometre freestyle race. According to USA Today, he had been training for the sprint kayaking event since 2019, but he failed to qualify.

Pita Taufatofua walked alongside Malia Paseka, who is another female martial artist representing Tonga’s Taekwondo team in the event. Taufatofua is all set to compete in the men’s +80-kilogram category in the Tokyo Olympics, with the first competition on Monday against Vladislav Larin of the Russian Olympic Committee.

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As the famous martial artist flaunted his abs, social media users could not keep calm.

“***BREAKING*** TONGA HAS WON THE OLYMPICS. We can all go home now,” a Twitter user tweeted.

To this, a user responded, “Hang on – didnt this happen last Olympics? Do they have a production line of hot oily men or have you just posted the same pic as before.”

“Olympics Opening Ceremony won’t be complete without Tonga and its unique flag bearer!” said another.

Pita Taufatofua, however, is not the only one flaunting their glistening ripped body this year. Vanuatu’s flag bearer, also sported a well-oiled shirtless look while carrying the flag of his country during the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics.