"The important thing in life is not to succeed, but to work hard
," said Baron Cubertin, the father of the modern Olympics.
A player who embodies this word appeared on the 5th day of the Tokyo Olympics.
Shirtless folk costume at the opening ceremony
Pita Taufatofu, 37, is the representative of Tonga, an island country in the South Pacific.
After participating in the Rio de Janeiro Games in the summer of 2016 in Taekwondo, he participated in the ski cross-country competition in the Pyeongchang Games in the winter of 2018. The appearance of the march attracted a lot of attention.
Taekwondo Men's participation in the 80 kg class
In this tournament, which was the third consecutive Olympic Games, he participated in the Taekwondo Men's 80 kg class and played against Bradislav Larin of the Russian Olympic Committee, who ranked first in the world ranking in the first round on the 27th.
Taufatofu was attacked from the beginning by an opponent who beats the reach, leading him to 0-9 in the first round.
Even so, when he made a punch to the torso in the second round and returned 1 point, he pushed up his left hand to express his joy and showed concern for helping the opponent who fell entangled.
Taufatofu continued to aggressively attack while raising his voice, and although he lost by a large margin of 3 to 24, he smiled and praised each other for a good fight.
Taufatofu lost to Slovenian players 1 to 22 in the repechage and did not win the Olympics for the first time.
Impress the world with the appearance of continuing to fight
Taufatofu, who also serves as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador outside the competition, supports children suffering from poverty.
According to the official website of the Olympic Games, the inscription on the right is "You can't beat a person who never gives up."
As the word says, I impressed the world with how they faced difficulties and continued to fight.