Tonga's shirtless Olympic flag bearer Pita Taufatofua on his comeback plans for Paris 2024
The bare-chested flag bearer could become an Olympian in a new sport after previously competing in taekwondo and cross-country skiing. In an interview with Olympics.com, he shared his plans for the next months and why he is eying a return to the Games: “Make no mistake you will be seeing me in Paris”.
Pita Taufatofua would like to take his shirt off at the Olympics, one more time.
After skipping Beijing 2022, the Tongan, who grabbed headlines at three Olympic opening ceremonies, is keen on repeating his bare-chested flag bearing.
We've already seen him competing in taekwondo at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 held in 2021, and as a cross-country skier at PyeongChang 2018.
There could be another run at the Olympics in another sport – canoeing.
Pita has been training concurrently for taekwondo and kayaking, with the hope of making it through the Oceania Olympic qualification - a long shot that he is well acquainted with.
“My goal is certainly to is to make another Olympics, to qualify for Paris,” he said in an interview with Olympics.com from his training base in Brisbane.
“My main kayaking sport, the sprint, got taken away from the next Olympics, so I have to look at other avenues within that. But I've been working very, very hard in that, and also taekwondo.”
Pita, the true challenge-seeker, is excited to chase qualification again as a paddler after a failed attempt on the water for Tokyo.
“Multiple sports, one sport, two sports, three sports, 10 sports. It makes no difference to me.
“It's just about putting yourself forward, making sure you have the mentality, making sure you're performing at your greatest version, and then you just throw your cards up to the wind and see which one flies off into the sunset."
Pita Taufatofua is back on the familiar Olympic chase
Before last year’s Beijing Winter Games, the Tongan athlete had become a constant sensation at three consecutive Olympics for standing out at the Opening Ceremony Parade of Nations.
He rose to prominence and won admirers at Rio 2016 when he walked in to the Macarana stadium dressed only in the traditional Tongan skirt, tupenu, his muscular torso smeared with oil.
Few could see past his shiny body.
There were years of toiling and pain, from injures that delayed an Olympic dream spurred by compatriot Paea Wolfgramm, the first Tongan to win an Olympic medal.
The street parade of Tongans cheering Wolfgramm’s silver medal win at Atlanta 1996 inspired the then 12-year-old Olympic dream.
A decade later, Taufatofua achieved his Olympic moment.
“I've been doing sports since I was young... so when I do get injuries, which you get a lot of in sport, then you do heal quickly,” said Pita, who began practising taekwondo like the rest of his family members when he was about five, mainly for self-defence.
“What's been great is that my mental frame has been the strongest part.”
Qualifying for Rio 2016, where he only competed in the first round of the taekwondo event, primed him mentally for what would be arguably his hardest task ever.
After years living in the tropics, he decided to chase qualification in PyeongChang as a cross-country skier.
A huge shot for the athlete who had barely seen snow. The Polynesian achieved his Winter Olympic dream in dramatic fashion. The only Tongan athlete in Beijing once again wowed the world, carrying the Tongan flag in his traditional attire in sub-zero temperatures.
He returned to the Summer Olympic stage in Tokyo, in taekwondo again.
“Everything we put into sport is to qualify for one single Olympics. To make two…three? But for me, that's what the Olympics stands for, is helping us find the best in ourselves," he reflected.
“My life is about trying to develop and help other people become their greatest version. This is why I love the Olympics.
"The Olympics is that moment in time where everybody can look out and see that see a version of themselves competing in some sport and say, ‘Hey, that person was like me. That person came from my circumstances and look at where they are now’.”- Pita Taufatofua to Olympics.com
Pita Taufatofua on training for two sports concurrently
Now 39, Pita Taufatofua is eyeing-up another shot at the Games for the Pacific island.
“Everyone knows that my summer sports are kayak and taekwondo. How that looks we’re not 100 per cent sure yet…But I'll give my absolute best to be there.”
So how is it training and chasing qualification in two different sports just over a year before Paris 2024?
“It looks a little bit like this: Today, I'm training. This afternoon, I'm training. Tonight, I’m training. Tomorrow morning, I am training,” he explained.
“There's more focus on a specific sport when there's a competition for that sport, six of those will be strength and conditioning, and maybe I'll have another six sessions, which will be sports specific. So, when there's no competition for either sport, we do strength and conditioning to make sure that our body is ready.”
The first Tongan to compete at both the Summer and Winter Games, Taufatofua knows navigating the qualification path in both sports will not be easy but maintains his ever-positive attitude.
“We have to work very hard as we're going up against countries who are already Olympic gold medallists. It's very difficult for us,” admitted Pita who competed in the men’s +80kg in Tokyo, in reference to competing against other Oceania sporting giants like Australia.
“But one thing we have in the Pacific is we have spirit right there, even though we just have a broomstick, and we're fighting off dragons, we wave that broomstick like we're sweeping a big gym floor.”
Still, he’s very pragmatic about his qualification chances as he commits to ensuring Tonga is well represented in Paris.
“We're working to get a full team qualified for Paris [in taekwondo]. We have two girls…so a lot of my coaches’ energy is going to try to help them qualify, because we want more girls from Tonga qualifying for more sports,” he said.
“We’re behind them to try and help them do it…we understand how hard it was for us.”
But be in no doubt, Pita is determined to make his own Olympic appearance in Paris as well.
“Make no mistake, you will be seeing me in Paris. It would be a dream come true to make four and in Paris! The city of love. I've never had my kiss under the Eiffel Tower. So maybe next year will be the first time! - Pita Taufatofua
