The Tongan athlete who sparked a sensation at the opening ceremony in Rio will be at Tokyo as well – but not in the record-setting manner he had hoped.
However, Pita Taufatofua says fame has never been the motivating factor for his athletic endeavours and he tries to ignore his critics.
Taufatofua, who garnered world attention as the oiled, shirt-less flagbearer for Tonga at the 2016 Olympic Games, had been aiming to compete in his third Olympics in five years in three different sports.
But the 37-year-old failed to qualify as a kayaker for Tokyo so will again represent his country in taekwondo as he did in Rio.
Taufatofua was a controversial competitor at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, when he was 114th out of 116 finishers in the men’s 15km free cross-country skiing competition – 23 minutes behind the winning time of 33 minutes 43 seconds.
Taufatofua was a controversial competitor at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, when he was 114th out of 116 finishers in the men’s 15km free cross-country skiing competition – 23 minutes behind the winning time of 33 minutes 43 seconds.
