--- description: Pita Nikolas Taufatofua quickly became a social media sensation during the opening ceremonies for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro title: The Internet Loved Tonga's Oiled Up Olympics Flag Bearer image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfb43f7bfedc4c49d/6988a170fb4eac7faf88ea5f/pita-nikolas-taufatofua-tonga-olympics.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Sports](/section/sports/) ## Sports Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics](/tag/2016-rio-de-janiero-olympics/) ## 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The Internet Loved Tonga's Oiled Up Olympics Flag Bearer  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 6, 2016 12:43 PM CUT  Tonga's flagbearer Pita Nikolas Taufatofua leads his delegation during the opening ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro on Aug. 5, 2016. Tonga's flagbearer Pita Nikolas Taufatofua leads his delegation during the opening ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro on Aug. 5, 2016.Olivier Mornin—AFP/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 6, 2016 12:43 PM CUT Pita Nikolas Taufatofua quickly became a social media sensation during the [opening ceremonies](http://time.com/4441321/rio-2016-olympics-opening-ceremony/?xid=homepage "undefined") for the [2016 Olympics](http://time.com/4438690/rio-2016-olympics-terrorism-security/?xid=homepage "undefined") in Rio de Janeiro on Friday, when he carried Tonga’s flag into the arena, looking patriotic—and quite oiled up. The Australian-born Taufatofua, 32, is competing in taekwondo and is the first Tongan athlete to qualify for the sport, [the Washington _Post_ reports](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2016/08/05/meet-the-very-oily-tongan-flag-bearer-from-the-opening-ceremonies/ "undefined"). Before the ceremony, he hinted about “a little surprise” in a [post on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/p/BIuSqp1gPik/?taken-by=pita%5Ftofua "undefined"). “Don’t blink or you’ll miss it,” he wrote, including a wink. The Internet didn’t miss it. > [](https://twitter.com/borisrio/status/761767818220142596) > [](https://twitter.com/glen%5Fichinose/status/761739388418011136) > [](https://twitter.com/NicoleAuerbach/status/761738933692669953) > [](https://twitter.com/thisisdavid/status/761739219962306560) > [](https://twitter.com/GraemeONeil/status/761740059410309120) > [](https://twitter.com/Lindsey651/status/761782321989185536) > [](https://twitter.com/MudflapFairy/status/761766480602017793) > [](https://twitter.com/ncfac/status/761751428587200513) > [](https://twitter.com/bluekd07/status/761739398044082176) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4441924/rio-2016-olympics-tonga-flag-bearer/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4441924/rio-2016-olympics-tonga-flag-bearer/"},"headline":"The Internet Loved Tonga's Oiled Up Olympics Flag Bearer","datePublished":"2016-08-06T12:43:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:48:55.526Z","description":"Pita Nikolas Taufatofua left quite the impression","url":"https://time.com/4441924/rio-2016-olympics-tonga-flag-bearer/","keywords":["2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics","Summer Olympics"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfb43f7bfedc4c49d/6988a170fb4eac7faf88ea5f/pita-nikolas-taufatofua-tonga-olympics.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfb43f7bfedc4c49d/6988a170fb4eac7faf88ea5f/pita-nikolas-taufatofua-tonga-olympics.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"OLY-2016-RIO-OPENING-DELEGATION","caption":"OLY-2016-RIO-OPENING-DELEGATION","creditText":"Olivier Mornin—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-rio-de-janiero-olympics/","name":"2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4441924/rio-2016-olympics-tonga-flag-bearer/","name":"The Internet Loved Tonga's Oiled Up Olympics Flag Bearer"}}]}] ```