Pita Taufatofua

Pita Taufatofua, the shirtless Tongan flag bearer who won the hearts of viewers around the world during the past three Olympics, has announced that he won’t be participating in the 2022 Beijing Games, which begin this week.

Pita Taufatofua won’t be participating in the Beijing Winter Olympics, as he shared in a message to his fans on Instagram

Pita Taufatofua, known as the “Shirtless Tongan” carrying Tonga’s flag at the Olympics, has established a GoFundMe page to help rebuild areas devastated by a tsunami following a volcanic eruption.

As the 2020 Tokyo Olympics kicked off on Friday, Japan unveiled an opening ceremony unlike any games before. From a moment of silence for the victims of the coronavirus pandemic to unique callouts to Japanese culture, here are the top 10 moments from the Olympics opening ceremony.

Pita Taufatofua made a splash in Rio in 2016 when he entered the Olympics Opening Ceremony shirtless and covered in oil. Well, he’s back in Tokyo. The Tongan taekwondo practitioner, skier and canoeist marched once again in this year’s Opening Ceremony on Friday as his island nation’s flag-bearer, causing an Internet splash. Before the ceremony, he’d dropped hints that...

Pita Taufatofua, best known for his shirtless stints as Tonga’s Olympic flag bearer, shares three things you should know before taking your shirt off.

Pita Taufatofua, Tonga’s famous shirtless Olympic flag bearer, shares three things you should know about his home country.

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach met with Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang on Friday and said the North Korean leader is committed to having his country participate in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics and the Beijing Winter Games in 2022. Bach told an Associated Press Television crew that the two had a 30-minute formal meeting followed by 45 minutes...

American Alpine skier Lindsey Vonn, freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy and Pita Taufatofua, the shirtless Tongan flag bearer and cross-country skier, posed for photos and selfies on Sunday at the 2018 Winter Olympics’ Closing Ceremony in Pyeongchang, South Korea. “Wow, what an amazing night!” Vonn, who won a bronze medal in the downhill event, wrote on Instagram. “Loved the energy that…

Tongan flag bearer Pita Taufatofua has more on his mind than just trying to compete at the Pyeongchang Olympics this week. The 34-year-old cross-country skier is concerned about his homeland after it was hit by a cyclone that destroyed Parliament House as well as churches and homes. “Thank you for all the kind messages of support,” Taufatofua said on his...

At the 2016 Rio Olympic Games Tonga’s Pita Taufatofua blew up the internet after marching in the Opening Ceremony in his traditional ta’ovala, and nothing but. With weather reports in PyeongChang predicting temperatures of 15 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit for the Opening Ceremony, Taufatofua said he won’t be reprising his show-stopping attire at these Olympics. “I want to still be...

Husband-wife pair of Chris Knierim and Alexa Scimeca-Knierim captured a national title at the U.S. Figure Skating championships Saturday, likely securing their Olympic berth for the Pyeongchang Games in South Korea.

The Opening Ceremony gives countries an opportunity to show off their fashion digs: Some, like the United States (Ralph Lauren) and Great Britain (Stella McCartney), wear stylish outfits by big-name designers. Others, like Senegal and Burundi, wear traditional garb. And then there was Nigera and Tonga.