Topless Tongan set to ski, not dress, for success

Tongan cross country skier Pita Taufatofua joked that he had two immediate goals before he competed late Thursday night (Mountain time) in his first Winter Olympics: Don’t hit a tree and finish before they turn off the lights.

The medal podium was far from the mind of the “shirtless” Tongan, who qualified despite having taken up the sport less than a year ago and having spent less than 12 weeks of his life on snow.

The 34-year-old Taufatofua became a TV and internet hit in 2016 when he walked shirtless into the opening ceremony at the Summer Olympics carrying the Tongan flag, his bare chest oiled up.

He didn’t fare so well in taekwondo at

SNOWBOARDCROSS

those games, losing his first match 19-1.

But shortly after that, the persistent Taufatofua decided to make a run at qualifying for the Winter Games.

When he arrived in PyeongChang he said he wouldn’t march without a shirt, but when the opening ceremony began there he was topless in the bone-chilling temperatures. The crowd roared.

“If my ancestors can sail across the Pacific Ocean for 1,000 years, not knowing where the next piece of land is going to be, not knowing where their next meal is going to be, going to war, then I can walk for 25 minutes through an opening ceremony without a shirt on,” Taufatofua said.