Bare-Chested Tonga Olympian Pita Taufatofua Steals the Show at Olympic Opening Ceremony

GTY Ronald Martinez
Getty Images/Ronald Martinez
Dylan Gwinn

Nothing says Winter Olympics like a well-oiled, shirtless Tongan.

That would appear to be the message taken from last night’s opening ceremonies as social media, and the world, reacted to the return of Pita Taufatofua, the shirtless Tongan flag-bearer.

Taufatofua and his torso first made an appearance during far warmer times, when he carried the flag for the Tongans at the 2016 Summer Olympic games. Despite the fact that it is now, 2018, the Winter Olympics, and below freezing at the time of the opening ceremonies Thursday night; Taufatofua led the Tongans adorned in the same outfit he wore for the start of the summer games:

Taufatofua qualified for the games as a cross-country skier. Rumors are he will wear a shirt for that, much to the disappointment of Twitter. Here are some of the Twitter reactions to the bare-chested Tongan’s opening ceremony strut:

 

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