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Everyone’s favorite shirtless Olympian was a notable absence Friday at the Opening Ceremonies in Beijing.
Tonga’s Pita Taufatofua, who has competed in the past two Summer Games in taekwondo and in cross-country skiing at the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, announced earlier this week that he would not be competing this year.
The 38-year-old Taufatofua made a shiny entrance at the previous games, bearing the flag of his South Pacific nation while wearing only a ta’ovala around his waist and gobs of oil on the rest of his body, even in freezing temperatures in South Korea four years ago.
“Three Olympics in a row I have been blessed with all of your kindness,” Taufatofua posted earlier this week on Instagram. “The last two years, competition and travel has been non-existent. Not everything is in our control. That said I embrace both the good and the bad as part of life, and I do so with a smile.
“This time I will not be sharing the Beijing Olympic Games with you all. But I continue with joy as I prepare to support all the Olympians who have worked so hard to represent their countries. They are all flag-bearers, that all stand for that voice within that calls us all to become our very best.”
Taufatofua added that he is helping with the recovery effort from the recent underwater volcanic eruption near Tonga that led to tsunamis barreling into the island nation. However, he indicated that he hopes to participate in some way in the next Summer Games in Paris in 2024.
“Make no mistake, my sword is sharp and my mind is ready. I am just getting started,” he wrote. “We have something up our sleeve, an idea, a feat, a dream. It lives next to the impossible, a place that excites me.
“Thank you all for continuing to share this quest. Your support means everything. Somewhere inside each and every one of you there is an Olympian … Paris ‘we’ are coming!”
American Samoan skeleton athlete and flag bearer Nathan Crumpton paid tribute to Taufatofua during Friday’s ceremonies by entering the Parade of Nations without a shirt.
“American Samoa holding the fort. #StrongerTogether,” Taufatofua posted on Instagram.
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