Trending worldwide from Rio 2016: a slicked, shirtless Pita Taufatofua becomes Tonga's hottest commodity
You'll want to get to know him
Rio 2016 is the first Olympic Games for 32-year-old Pita Taufatofua (Photo: Getty Images/Cameron Spencer)
Pita Taufatofua, the flag bearer for Tonga at the Rio 2016 opening ceremony, was relatively unknown before Friday night's festivities. No longer.
Twitter is agog with the slicked, shirtless, heavyweight taekwondo competitor.
The humour is two parts admiration, one-half part jealousy. Another half part is desire. Desire to visit Tonga.
After #OpeningCeremony and the Portuguese #CerimoniaDeAbertura, the highest trending term on Twitter was #Tonga with more than 45 million global mentions. And that was even before NBC aired the broadcast in the U.S.
Yes, 206 other delegations. But who's counting.
Tyra Banks knows talent when she sees it.
This Colombian tweet lets us in on the no-longer-secret location of Tonga.
Taufatofua, six-foot-three, competes in the men's 80kg class and lists the iconic Bruce Lee as an inspiration. He begins competition 20 August at Carioca Arena 3.
