E57 | Pita Taufatofua
Episode summary | Pita Taufatofua
Pita Taufatofua broke the internet in 2016! But that was after 20 years of graft to achieve a childhood goal of becoming an Olympian in taekwondo.
When he walked out at the opening ceremony of the Rio Olympic Games covered in coconut oil and shirtless as the Tongan flagbearer he achieved worldwide fame but that’s only scratching the surface of his story.
In this episode we look at the 24 hours after the ceremony, and the hundreds of opportunities that it presented daily after he Games including turning down a million dollar movie offer.
Instead he embarked on an epic journey to qualify for the 2018 Winter Olympics in cross-country skiing, before returning to the Olympics in taekwondo, making history as the person to have qualified and competed in three consecutive Olympics.
In between he’s been interviewed shirtless by Snoop Dogg and Kevin Hart, mingled with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, and picked up enough stores along the way to be turned into a Hollywood blockbuster.
Show notes | Pita Taufatofua
1.52 Seamus as one of millions who tagged Pita on Instagram back in 2016 and Steven learns about his exploits over the past 48 hours
5.41 The 24 hours after the opening ceremony in Rio de Janeiro
16.18 Would you do anything differently?
17.59 On being a sex symbol and getting objectified in the media
22.20 Growing up in Tonga and the influence of his family
27.32 “20 years of work for 30 seconds of shine”
31.03 The start of the Olympic dream in 1996
34.35 Turning down a million dollar Hollywood opportunity post-Olympics
41.15 Giving back: using his platform as leverage to talk about social causes
46.05 From taekwondo to cross country skiing
54.10 Dealing with criticism
57.07 The last race in Iceland to qualify for the Winter Olympics
1.10.42 Sacrifice: $40,000 of credit card debt and losing people along the way
1.15.37 Famous faces along the way: Snoop Dogg & Kevin Hart, Morgan Freeman, Prince Harry & Meghan Markle
1.22.26 Trying to qualify for a third Olympics in sprint kayaking
1.26.02 Pita on the Olympics and mental health
1.29.48 Next steps? Paris 2024? Training facilities in the Pacific
1.33.32 Last words from Steven, Seamus and Pita
