Winter Olympics Celebrates a New Muscly Greased-Up Star at Opening Ceremony
Tongan legend Pita Taufatofua sadly couldn’t make it to the 2022 event, but a successor was waiting.
Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters
There was a deeply felt absence at the Winter Olympic Opening Ceremony in Beijing on Friday morning—the shirtless, greased-up Tongan legend Pita Taufatofua, who sadly isn’t competing at the 2022 event. However, do not despair, as the flag-bearer for American Samoa took up the now-traditional role at Friday’s festivities. Nathan Crumpton, a Princeton grad who grew up in Utah but now competes in skeleton for American Samoa, went for the shirtless and oily look despite it being a frigid 23 degrees Fahrenheit in Beijing. Crumpton’s outfit was a clear tribute to Taufatofua, who, according to the Associated Press, is currently busy trying to coordinate relief efforts in Tonga after it was slammed by a volcano and tsunami last month.
Per la prima volta nella storia dei Giochi olimpici invernali ci saranno anche l'Arabia Saudita e Haiti.
— LifeGate (@lifegate) February 4, 2022
Qui invece la delegazione delle Samoa americane, composta unicamente dallo skeletonista Nathan Crumpton. Samoa aveva già partecipato ai Giochi nel 1994.#Beijing2022 pic.twitter.com/Lb2FQPLYM2
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