--- title: Olympics 2018: Tonga Flag Bearer Pita Taufatofua Will Return description: Pita Taufatofua, the Tongan flag bearer who made waves at the Rio 2016 Summer Games, is officially set to compete at the 2018 Winter Olympics. canonical: https://time.com/5112498/olympics-2018-tongan-flag-bearer-pita-taufatofua-returning/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-01-22T17:04:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:49:55.903Z og:title: Everyone's Favorite Tongan Flag-Bearer Is Returning to the Olympics og:description: But this time he'll be skiing og:url: https://time.com/5112498/olympics-2018-tongan-flag-bearer-pita-taufatofua-returning/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt567cfbf888768829/6988f902bc6cfc22333e4bab/pita-taufatofua.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Pita Taufatofua og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Everyone's Favorite Tongan Flag-Bearer Is Returning to the Olympics twitter:description: But this time he'll be skiing twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt567cfbf888768829/6988f902bc6cfc22333e4bab/pita-taufatofua.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Everyone's Favorite Tongan Flag-Bearer Is Coming Back to the Olympics. This Time He'll Be Skiing.  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jan 22, 2018 5:04 PM UTC  Pita Taufatofua of Tonga poses for a photo on the NBC Today show set at Copacabana Beach on August 8, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Pita Taufatofua of Tonga poses for a photo on the NBC Today show set at Copacabana Beach on August 8, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.Harry How/Getty Images  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jan 22, 2018 5:04 PM UTC Pita Taufatofua, the martial artist who made waves as [Tonga’s oiled-up flag bearer](http://time.com/4441924/rio-2016-olympics-tonga-flag-bearer/) at the Rio 2016 Summer Games, is officially set to compete at the [2018 Winter Olympics](http://time.com/5064263/winter-olympics-2018-pyeonchang-ticket-sales/) in [PyeongChang, South Korea](http://time.com/5070315/winter-olympics-2018-location/). Only this time, he’ll be cross country skiing. After losing his opening round taekwondo match in Rio to Iran’s Sajjad Mardani, Taufatofua has turned to a new sport in order to qualify for the Winter Games. But even after two years of training, it wasn’t until Saturday — the final day of the qualification period — that he earned the score required to race in PyeongChang. “After Rio I decided to find the hardest sport possible, because I needed a new challenge, and the hardest sport possible was cross country skiing,” he told the Olympic Channel. “You know look at the conditions, it’s like freezing, it’s negative a million degrees, and then you’ve got to put your body through something really challenging.” Taufatofua will be the second Tongan athlete ever to compete at a Winter Olympics. Watch his post-qualifying interview below. 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