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Shirtless Tonga Olympian Pita Taufatofua Wins Olympic Opening Ceremony Again

The Winter Games warmed up real quick!
Ron Dicker
By 

General Assignment Reporter, HuffPost

Ronald Martinez via Getty Images

The man knows how to make an entrance.

Pita Taufatofua, whose oiled torso wowed the world at the opening ceremony for the 2016 Summer Olympics, returned to the Olympic stage in the same fashion at Friday’s opening ceremony for the Winter Games.

It was below freezing in Pyeongchang, South Korea, as Taufatofua strutted through the stadium like it was, well, a day at the beach.

Taufatofua made these Games as a cross-country skier by qualifying in mostly dry-land roller events. He’s not a contender ― just as he wasn’t when he lost in the first round in taekwondo in Rio ― but, man, he just struck gold in the kick-off event again.

The dude was resplendent. Twitter loved him, too.

I salute you, Tonga pic.twitter.com/8ICNmDK0m0

— Sam Kim (@samkimasia) February 9, 2018

Bermuda: Its not that cold. We can wear shorts.

Tonga guy: Hold my beer#OpeningCeremony pic.twitter.com/i4z8Btrvdm

— Nick Murray (@NickMurray91) February 9, 2018

Tonga! Immune to the cold. #Pyeongchang2018 #Olympics pic.twitter.com/JX6PYINg0C

— Jean H. Lee (@newsjean) February 9, 2018

No shoes, no shirt, no problem.

Pita Taufatofua, Tonga's flag-bearer and only Olympic athlete is ready for #PyeongChang2018 pic.twitter.com/ZchGQwbfzX

— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) February 9, 2018
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