RIO DE JANEIRO — The Tonga flag bearer was back on Sunday night for the closing ceremony, and you better believe he was shirtless.
Pita Nikolas Taufatofua, an athlete from the small island nation who qualified for the Olympics in taekwondo, became an Internet sensation during the Opening Ceremony when he came out wearing only a ta’ovala (Tongan mat) wrapped around his waist. That and a lot of body oil.
Taufatofua promised he would make a similar statement at the Closing Ceremony, and that he did, coming out once again in nothing but the traditional Tongan mat, this time accented in red with “TONGA” lettered on the side. He appeared to have slightly less oil on him this time around, but it may have been affected by the rain which was falling through the open roof of Maracana Stadium.
While Taufatofua was arguably the winner of both the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, he didn’t fare so well in his actual competition. Taufatofua lost 16-1 to Iran’s Sajjad Mardani in his only match of the tournament.
