Date uploaded: 2021-07-23 15:07:57

He's back! Olympic athlete Pita Taufatofua became a viral sensation, just not for what he did competing, but rather his shirtless, oiled up body at the opening ceremonies of the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang and now the Tokyo Summer Games. But he is more than that. Taufatofua is a UNICEF ambassador, a man trying to inspire all of Oceania and now a three-time Olympian. After making the jump to cross-country skiing for the Winter Games, the 37-year-old will once again compete in taekwondo after qualifying last year. Since he qualified before the pandemic began, it’s been an intense year for Taufatofua to keep training, as he has been quarantining in Australia since last March. “We haven't been able to go to any other countries to do any competition to compete against other people,” Taufatofua told USA TODAY. “There were other challenges, but there's no victory without first going through the battles.” In the first photo, Taufatofua is joined by Malia Paseka to bear the Tongan flag during the opening ceremony for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Summer Games. The second shows Sajjad Mardani of Iran competing against Taufatofua in the men's +80kg round of 16 taekwondo match during the Rio 2016 Summer Olympic Games. 📸: @usatodaysports