A Tongan has qualified in cross country skiing for the 2018 Olympics after only ten weeks of practice on snow and a year on roller skies.
Pita Taufatofua, who usually specialises in Taekwondo, gained worldwide attention during the opening ceremony for the 2016 Olympics when as a flagbearer for the island nation he appeared shirtless and his torso extremely well oiled.
Speaking from Iceland, an ecstatic Mr Tuafatofua said it was a, "miracle" he qualified – on his last race on the last day of the qualifiers.
"This I give all to the big man upstairs, this is a miracle there is nothing I have that is this special!"
He said after the 2016 Olympics where he competed in Taekwondo, he decided to find the hardest sport possible because he needed a new challenge.
Mr Taufatofua's had to lose 15kg and has only had ten weeks practising cross country skiing on the snow – the rest of the year he's had to use roller skies.
"We sacrificed everything to be here. Financially, I am in the worst position ever but I am the happiest ever," he said.
This will be the second time Tonga – which has a tropical temperature range of 23-28 degrees – will take part in the Winter Olympics. In 2014 the Kingdom entered a luge team.
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