‘Topless Tongan’ taekwondo star who wowed crowds at last two Olympics qualifies for his third Games

‘Topless Tongan’ who wowed crowds at two summer and winter Olympics qualifies for his third Games in Tokyo

  • Pita Taufatofua turned heads after oiling chiselled torso during past Olympics
  • He will represent Tonga in taekwondo and potentially kayaking this year  
  • Also hinted that he wants to try and compete in canoeing in Tokyo this year 

An athlete who was on the receiving end of a lot of attention after going topless during the Parade of Nations in the last two Olympics has qualified for this year’s Games in Tokyo. 

Pita Taufatofua, a Tongan athlete, turned heads after oiling his chiselled torso before he strutted down the Parade of Nations. 

He qualified for taekwondo after winning a gold medal in the 80kg category on Saturday. 

Pita Taufatofua, a Tongan athlete, turned heads after oiling his chiselled torso before he strutted down the Parade of Nations

He wore nothing but a ta¿ovala (a Tongan mat which is wrapped around the waist) and garnered copious amounts of attention on social media

He wore nothing but a taʻovala (a Tongan mat which is wrapped around the waist) and garnered copious amounts of attention on social media

Wearing nothing but a taʻovala (a Tongan mat which is wrapped around the waist), Taufatofua garnered copious amounts of attention on social media. 

This year’s Summer Games will be his second Olympic appearance for taekwondo but his main goal, according to an interview with CNN, is to compete in three unrelated sports and participate in two different sports in the same Olympics. 

At the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang in 2018 he represented his country for cross-country skiing. 

This year's Summer Games will be his second Olympic appearance for taekwondo

This year’s Summer Games will be his second Olympic appearance for taekwondo

He qualified for taekwondo after winning a gold medal in the 80kg category on Saturday

He qualified for taekwondo after winning a gold medal in the 80kg category on Saturday

He has been training in kayaking for about a year and he told CNN last year: 'I just love being out on the ocean, being out at sea. It's a sport that excites me. I haven't learned it yet, but it excites me at the same time'

He has been training in kayaking for about a year and he told CNN last year: ‘I just love being out on the ocean, being out at sea. It’s a sport that excites me. I haven’t learned it yet, but it excites me at the same time’

And this year, he’s aiming to qualify for kayaking as well as taekwondo. 

He has been training in kayaking for about a year and he told CNN last year: ‘I just love being out on the ocean, being out at sea. It’s a sport that excites me. I haven’t learned it yet, but it excites me at the same time.’  

He also hinted that he may want to try and compete in canoeing as he told the BBC: ‘It’s a sport that’s close to my heart as it’s what my ancestors did for thousands of years when they colonised the Polynesian islands.’ 

It is unclear whether or not he will parade topless again this year.