Rio 2016 Olympics - Taekwondo athlete Pita Taufatofua "broke the internet" the moment cameras zoomed in on the Tongan flag-bearer's coconut-oiled body and cheeky grin at the Olympics Opening Ceremony.
Some viewers immediately demanded all gold medals be handed over to Tonga.
Give Tonga all of the medals, now: https://t.co/T8sN74DANr pic.twitter.com/yuCpqnYXEX
— Deadspin (@Deadspin) August 6, 2016
Tonga has won one Olympic medal ever. Last night it won the opening-ceremonies gold: https://t.co/mAVOltI2gs
— Rachel Bachman (@Bachscore) August 6, 2016
#Tonga just broke the Internet - and that's ok. #rio2016 https://t.co/d57IgHrieP pic.twitter.com/UV7HGxrmYM
— Bruce Hoffman (@BCcat) August 6, 2016
OMG THE TONGA FLAG BEARER!!! pic.twitter.com/nxaR9bUkR1
— bluekd (@bluekd07) August 6, 2016
And while most were happy to just tweet their appreciation for the self-described Tongan ninja, the Australian tried to steal his shine by attempting to claim their magazine cover as his style inspiration.
Was greased-up flagbearer for Tonga inspired by this weekend's Magazine cover? https://t.co/MzTNmzOWNr #Rio2016 pic.twitter.com/qYEhxkujzv
— The Australian (@australian) August 6, 2016
This resulted in a swift smackdown from Poly Twitter:
@Libpez @australian ... I hope this answers your question. pic.twitter.com/EPZ51E4zLO
— . (@My_cRAY_WORLD) August 6, 2016
Why some white folks - always gotta try & appropriate?? #NotAboutYouWhiteAustralia https://t.co/CwzFgnChOI
— Lani Wendt Young (@laniwendtyoung) August 6, 2016
Polynesians wear oil every day, you fools. None of us have even read your magazine. https://t.co/Z7Xo7XbYzl
— Sita Leota (@SitaLeota) August 6, 2016
@australian as you can see putting oil on is a tradition that has been existing longer than your magazine. Malo pic.twitter.com/8TbeWGM8gr
— e$orklomu✨ (@roselomu2) August 6, 2016
The athlete has since had praise heaped on him from media outlets including Time Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, E! News and, most recently, what looked to be a pretty uncomfortable interaction with the hosts of the Today Show.
.@hodakotb living the dream this morning with #Tonga flag bearer Pita Taufatofua! #RioTODAY pic.twitter.com/UDZYlnE1Vo
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) August 8, 2016
His pictures backstage with Brazilian supermodel Adriana Lima show he also possesses an Olympic-level selfie-game.
#record Adriana Lima não fica indiferente a Pita Taufatofua: A imagem do corpo oleado do porta estandarte de ... https://t.co/jHeqRRde8N
— Noticias de Portugal (@news_portugal) August 9, 2016
Taufatofua is making use of his newfound fame to shine a light on Tonga, and the Tongan culture, explaining the traditional use of coconut oil and the intricacies of his traditional garb to the Chicago Tribune.
"The bottom half is called a tapa, and has traditional design which is called a manulua. The kafa, which holds the tapa up, that was made by my aunty who passed away before I could come here."
Taufatofua will compete in the men's over-80kg taekwondo event on Sunday. It comes after years of perseverance after twice previously missing out on Olympic qualification.
"The dream started 20 years ago and my third attempt - it's been this accumulation of just a lot of work and just reaching it finally has been actually a big relief.
"A lot of weight has been taken off my shoulders and finally just realising the dream I've never experienced this sort of joy before - it's crazy, it's nuts!"
RNZ International caught up with him just before he left for Rio, and an interview with him back in March can be found here.
