Twitter Goes GaGa Over Tonga Flag Bearer’s Oiled, Shirtless Bod

Tonga shines at the Rio Olympics Opening Ceremony, literally.

Tonga’s flag bearer received a lot of Twitter loving. (Photo Courtesy: Facebook/Eristya Utami)

I’m sure you can’t pronounce Pita Nikolas Taufatofua, yet he’s the reason you opened this story, so you might as well scroll down and treat yourself to some great visuals.

The Rio opening ceremony on Friday evening was a rather grand affair which saw lots of proud sportspersons leading their contingents with their countries’ flags.

While Abhinav Bindra led India, Michael Phelps led the US and Andy Murray led Britain, a lesser-known sportsperson Pita Nikolas Taufatofua from the lesser-heard of country Tonga, stole the show.

Pita Taufatofua’s oiled chest and grass skirt broke the internet. (Photo Courtesy: Twitter/Lindsey Gardner)

As Pita walked out with a well-oiled golden tanned body, a rather charming smile and a mat (read: ta’ovala) wrapped around his body, the taekwondo athlete had made his presence felt in the world’s largest sporting event even before his bout, which is scheduled for 19 August.

Who Is This Demigod?

32-year-old Pita Taufatofua is an Australian-born athlete, who is competing at the Olympics for the first time.

Pita frequently posts shirtless pictures of himself on his Instagram account and left a ‘hint’ on one of his posts before the opening ceremony.

We’re quite certain no one missed it though!

Twitter Goes Gaga

Twitter suddenly woke up to Tonga and it was all over the place.

While some loved it, others couldn’t get over all that oil.

Tonga hasn’t won a medal since 1996, their contingent might have just seven athletes this year but the nation from the Polynesian kingdom have stolen the show with all that oil and muscle.