--- title: Watch Pita Taufatofua, The Shirtless Tongan Flag bearer, Show Us Proper Coconut Oil Application | TIME description: Small circles, people. That's key to a good glisten when applying coconut oil to your arm. So says none other than Pita Taufatofua, the world's most famous consumer of the stuff. Taufatofua has made global waves during the last two Olympics. canonical: https://time.com/video/IEZNkxb0/ og:title: Watch Pita Taufatofua, The Shirtless Tongan Flag bearer, Show Us Proper Coconut Oil Application og:description: Small circles, people. That's key to a good glisten when applying coconut oil to your arm. So says none other than Pita Taufatofua, the world's most famous consumer of the stuff. Taufatofua has made global waves during the last two Olympics. og:url: https://time.com/video/IEZNkxb0/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/IEZNkxb0/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch Pita Taufatofua, The Shirtless Tongan Flag bearer, Show Us Proper Coconut Oil Application twitter:description: Small circles, people. That's key to a good glisten when applying coconut oil to your arm. So says none other than Pita Taufatofua, the world's most famous consumer of the stuff. Taufatofua has made global waves during the last two Olympics. twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/IEZNkxb0/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # Watch Pita Taufatofua, The Shirtless Tongan Flag bearer, Show Us Proper Coconut Oil Application > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Watch Pita Taufatofua, The Shirtless Tongan Flag bearer, Show Us Proper Coconut Oil Application [Watch (HLS stream): Watch Pita Taufatofua, The Shirtless Tongan Flag bearer, Show Us Proper Coconut Oil Application](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/IEZNkxb0.m3u8) (3:00)  _Published 2018-02-23. Small circles, people. That's key to a good glisten when applying coconut oil to your arm. So says none other than Pita Taufatofua, the world's most famous consumer of the stuff. Taufatofua has made global waves during the last two Olympics._ --- Jul 27, 2023 11:32 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [Is Coconut Oil Healthy?](/video/bOZfX00A/) ### Is Coconut Oil Healthy? [Famous 9/11 Flag Returns After Disappearing for 15 Years](/video/BxnGQ6hi/) ### Famous 9/11 Flag Returns After Disappearing for 15 Years [Michael Phelps Will Be the Flag Bearer for Team U.S.A.](/video/XKrm1pEu/) ### Michael Phelps Will Be the Flag Bearer for Team U.S.A. --- ## Transcript Coconuts in Tonga have been around since forever and so we use every part of the coconut. So the oil we use for cooking but we also use it in traditional dance, so what happens is that I've got some of the oil here, we would rub it on like this and, just small circles And what the oil does is, it gives a glisten. It gives a shine. For the world, this is new, this is what is this oil stuff. But for us, we've been putting it on for hundreds of years. Going back to Rio. Did I expect this many people, I guess, to react in this way? Absolutely not. I mean, how can you expect 200, 000, 000 hits in one week? Where is Tonga? Who is the Tongan flag bearer? You can't prepare for that. I was always going to come into the Olympics as a representative of my country and I've said that I was told in Rio not to wear that outfit. Wear the tie, wear the suit with this stuff. I said no, my ancestors didn't wear that. You're trying to represent 50 years of culture. I want to represent a thousand. We've got proud heritage. Fame doesn't interest me. What I can do with it to influence other people, that's, that's really [ INAUDIBLE ] interesting for me . >> I've always been drawn toward the Olympics since I was 12 years old and I just worked my whole like towards that. Cross country skiing to me was the most difficult for my body shape and my previous experiences. I dislike distance events with a passion But I'm drawn towards the challenge, and the Olympics represents that highest level of sport. And so what better way to test myself than the hardest sport which doesn't agree with me at all and see if I can do it. And by doing that, it shows people that they can do it. It really didn't matter to me if I came first or if I came last. The goal was to qualify. I always show up, I always finish, and I always finish strong. And that's what was important for me. That was my best, best result for a 15 kilometer so I was very happy. So in 2020 I'll certainly try as an athlete, to try and come back. Will probably be in a different sport, or maybe I'll also do Taekwondo. Maybe I'll try for two different sports. It opens doors for people who are watching back home, Tonga, Pacific. Anyone who's wanted to be an Olympian or to try new sports, it shows them that it can be done. If I make another Olympics, I don't wanna be the flag bearer. I want a kid that's coming up to be the flag bearer. I wanna march behind him, waving at everybody. [ MUSIC ] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Watch Pita Taufatofua, The Shirtless Tongan Flag bearer, Show Us Proper Coconut Oil Application","description":"Small circles, people. 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