Advertisement

Tongan keeps clothes on, comes 114th in Olympic ski

Tongan hunk Pita Taufatofua, famous for peeling off and baring his chest at the Olympics, hoped he wouldn't ski into a tree in his Winter Games debut. He also wanted to finish before it got dark in Friday's 15-kilometre freestyle cross-country skiing in Pyeongchang. Well, Taufatofua kept this clothes on for once and ticked both boxes, finishing 114th -- almost 23 minutes behind the gold medallist, Swiss legend Dario Cologna, but crucially avoiding the wooden spoon. "I'm just happy I finished," the 34-year-old told reporters. "Relieved. I mean, that was a long race." Certainly for Taufatofua it was long, although the dubious honour of finishing last, two spots further back, went to 43-year-old Mexican German Madrazo. Taufatofua and Morocco's Samir Azzimani (111th) waited for Madrazo at the finish line before hoisting their comrade into the air. "I'd rather finish towards the end of the pack with all my friends than be somewhere in the middle by myself," said the Tongan beefcake, who competed in taekwondo at the 2016 Rio Games but lost in the first round. "We fought together, we finished together." Taufatofua had onlookers in a lather when he marched at the opening ceremony in Rio topless and glistening in coconut oil, wearing just a traditional ta'ovala mat round his waist. Amazingly, he was at it again when the Pyeongchang Olympics opened last week despite the freezing cold, entering the stadium like a gladiator and brandishing the Tongan flag as if it were a spear. Though clearly no shrinking violet, Taufatofua laughed off suggestions he might be the most popular man at the Games. - Fiery kimchi - "I don't know about popular but I'm the coldest man," said the self-confessed beach bum, teeth chattering. "I think it's because I've got clothes on." Taufatofua, born in Brisbane but fiercely proud of his Tongan heritage, turned to cross-country skiing after Rio to make an unlikely Olympic return. His sense of relief was palpable after he finished in one piece. "I didn't fall," said Taufatofua, who revealed that he ate some "fiery kimchi" before the race to help keep warm. "I was coming into the last lap thinking 'please God, not in front of everyone, let me finish strong'. "But I finished with the guys and that was important for me." Taufatofua, who used to strap planks of wood to his feet to mimic skis in sweltering Australia, was looking forward to sharing race tales with Madrazo and Azzimani. "Everyone was at the front racing to come first," said Taufatofua, who is a social worker for children when not taking his clothes off or trying out new Olympic sports. "We were racing not to come last but we'll have a good laugh over it over dinner." Taufatofua promised to return. "That's one of my goals -- three Olympics, three different sports," he beamed. "Let's see what we can do for Tokyo (2020). I've got a few ideas but I can't give you guys all the information."