We Were Still Gifted With an Oiled-Up Flag Bearer at the Olympics
Not all heroes wear capes. In fact, some wear barely anything at all.
As the world mourned news that Tonga’s Pita Taufatofua would be sitting out of the 2022 Winter Olympics, American Samoa’s flag bearer Nathan Crumpton made the valiant decision to step up and fulfill our Olympic dreams. Yes, despite the frigid temperatures—we’re talking 24 degrees Fahrenheit and -4 Celsius—the skeleton competitor bared his oiled up chest while walking through Beijing’s The Bird’s Nest during the Opening Ceremony on Feb. 4.
When told he’s also a model and photographer, Today‘s Savannah Guthrie said what we were all thinking: “Well, I might have guessed that, actually. And also, quite courageous to bare the skin in these temps.”
After NBC’s Olympics host Mike Tirico explained, Crumpton—who also competed at the Tokyo Olympics—was wearing a “‘ie tōga, special finely woven mat decorated with red feathers,” Guthrie raved, “Well, he wears it well.” And we couldn’t agree more.
