There's A New Shirtless, Oiled-Up Olympian For 2022, So I Guess This Is Tradition Now

The 2022 Winter Olympics opening ceremony was quite a spectacle. Viewers were blown away by the beautiful fireworks display and the snowflake-themed dance performance at the beginning of the show, as well as seeing the athletes’ unique winter fashion during the Parade of Nations. But while everyone else wore several layers of clothing to help them fight the cold in Beijing, American Samoa’s Nathan Crumpton showed up shirtless and oiled up to carry his flag. In response, Tongan Olympian Pita Taufatofua — who’s previously been known as the Olympics’ shirtless flag bearer — gave Crumpton a shoutout on social media for keeping his tradition alive during the opening ceremony.

“American Samoa holding the fort #StrongerTogether,” Taufatofua tweeted on Friday, Feb. 4 alongside a photo of Crumpton shirtless at the Parade of Nations, clearly giving the new version his seal of approval. In previous years, Taufatofua, a taekwondo and cross-country skiing athlete, was the one to make headlines for his, er, shiny outfit. As Tonga’s flag bearer at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, Taufatofua earned cheers in person and on social media for showing up shirtless (but for a lot of baby oil) to present his country’s flag. He did the same during the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, and the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Unfortunately, he was unable to make the 2022 Beijing Games — so it’s a good thing Crumpton was able to pick up the (metaphorical) torch. With Taufatofua’s approval, this clearly counts as a new tradition.

Of course, fans thought the interaction was so wholesome, and tweeted things like, “We love to see it!” and “😍👏👏👏.” They were also impressed at how Crumpton managed to parade around the whole arena without a shirt, given that temperatures that evening hovered around 25 degrees Fahrenheit. “The flag bearer for American Samoa must be very brave to wear that costume in the cold,” one person tweeted. “The one athlete from Samoa came out to the freezing cold opening ceremonies shirtless and oiled up and looking JACKED baby,” another wrote.

Fans had been looking forward to seeing Taufatofua at the 2022 Winter Olympics, but just days before the Games kicked off in Beijing on Feb. 4, Taufatofua revealed he wouldn’t be able to make the event. “This time I will not be sharing the Beijing Olympic Games with you all. But I continue with joy as I prepare to support all the Olympians who have worked so hard to represent their countries," Taufatofua wrote on Instagram on Feb. 2, adding he had other matters to attend to. "Right now I have another task that calls me, I must answer.”

According to The New York Times, as Olympic trials came to a close towards the end of January Taufatofua had failed to qualify, and decided to turn his attention elsewhere. Instead, the Tongan put his focus on relief efforts following the devastating volcano eruption and tsunami that hit Tonga on Jan. 15. “Even with the qualification criteria, I wouldn’t have been able to go to Beijing,” he told the Times, adding that in Tonga, there were “too many people who are hungry for me to not be focused there.”

While Taufatofua couldn’t make it to the Olympics this year, he was definitely there in spirit as Crumpton continued his tradition!