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Library/Moment/Tonga's Shirtless Olympic Flag Bearer
Grade B28 sourcesHIS-00348

Tonga's Shirtless Olympic Flag Bearer

Moment · 2016 · Notable

43Editable slideCertificate

El País said its Rio flag-bearer story reached 608,697 unique browsers.

Stacy St. Clair

@StacyStClair · Aug 6, 2016

Tonga's flag beared is bare chested, oiled up and mugging for the camera. Brazil is loving it. #Rio2016

50
Original · Stacy St. Clair
OLY-2016-RIO-OPENING-DELEGATION
TIME
Pita Taufatofua on Instagram: "Olympic Opening ceremony tonight! We have a little surprise, don't blink or you'll miss it ;) #MorningViewFromMyRoom ! #flagBearer #taekwondo #rio #brazil #village…
Pita Taufatofua on Instagram
Tonga flag-bearer Pita Taufatofua making the most of unexpected Olympic fame
Sports Illustrated
2018 Winter Olympic Games - Opening Ceremony
TIME
New UNICEF Pacific Ambassador Pita Taufatofua inspires Tongan children at his old primary school in Nuku’alofa
UNICEF Pacific
Topless Tongan Olympic flag bearer Pita Taufatofua switches to snow | CNN
CNN
Pita Taufatofua in taekwondo uniform at Rio 2016; Javid Nikpour / Tasnim, CC BY 4.0
Javid Nikpour/Tasnim / CC BY 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Tonga Flag Bearer | Know Your Meme
Know Your Meme
Thousands of Brazilians want cheap fares to Tonga
Matangi Tonga
Parade of Tonga flag bearers raises support for Tongan Olympic Team
Matangi Tonga

Spread Score

How it works
Reach24ContagionNo data yetBreadth80Velocity65Longevity843

Numbers

S Moda story unique browsers, publisher-reported
608.7K
As of Jul 6, 2017 · Press · Self-reported · El País / S Moda
Seed to peak
same day
Aug 6 ’16 to Aug 6 ’16
Platforms
8
Started on X
Origin
Organic
Sports

Mechanics

  • Real-world spectaclePrimary
  • Transgression
  • Underdog
  • Platform jump
  • Press loop

How it spread

Trace the origin

Taufatofua’s shirtless Rio entrance prompted reaction tweets, then international profiles and a TODAY interview. Brazilian fans formed a Facebook page; Tongans staged a parade. S Moda later reported modelling work and its own story’s readership.

Google searchesJul ’16SepDecApr ’17JulOctFeb ’18MayJulPeakInstagramTVXPressOpen webRedditFacebookRetail
InstagramTVXPressOpen webRedditFacebookRetail

13 more events on this chart

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Timeline (16)

  1. August 2016

    Pita Taufatofua precursor · Aug 5 ’16

    Taufatofua teased a surprise at the opening ceremony on Instagram.[1]

    Pita Taufatofua on Instagram: "Olympic Opening ceremony tonight! We have a little surprise, don't blink or you'll miss it ;) #MorningViewFromMyRoom ! #flagBearer #taekwondo #rio #brazil #village…
    Open the first post ↗

  2. Pita Taufatofua precursor · Aug 5 ’16

    Taufatofua carried Tonga’s flag into Maracanã shirtless, wearing a ta’ovala and oil.[2]

  3. @StacyStClair seed · Aug 6 ’16

    Stacy St. Clair posted that Brazil loved Tonga’s shirtless flag bearer at 01:41 UTC.[3][4]

Changelogupdated Oct 12 ’26
  1. 2026-10-12Added: 16 events, 20 sources · Score 35
Origin
Organic
Sector
Sports
Region
BR
S Moda story unique browsers, publisher-reported
608.7K
As of Jul 6, 2017 · Press · Self-reported · El País / S Moda
Evidence
Grade B

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This color changing @BMWUSA #iX is wild! It’s apparently very temperature sensitive so they have a backup in a trailer in case this one gets too hot / cold

Gojira's Olympics opening ceremony performance

TV · 2024

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Peaked at #1

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YouTube · 2015

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New cases, every week

How the next thing spread, the week it does.

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Google searchesJul ’16SepDecApr ’17JulOctFeb ’18MayJulPeakInstagramTVXPressOpen webRedditFacebookRetail
InstagramTVXPressOpen webRedditFacebookRetail

13 more events on this chart

Join free to see them

  1. August 2016

    Pita Taufatofua precursor · Aug 5 ’16

    Taufatofua teased a surprise at the opening ceremony on Instagram.[1]

    Pita Taufatofua on Instagram: "Olympic Opening ceremony tonight! We have a little surprise, don't blink or you'll miss it ;) #MorningViewFromMyRoom ! #flagBearer #taekwondo #rio #brazil #village…
    Open the first post ↗

  2. Pita Taufatofua precursor · Aug 5 ’16

    Taufatofua carried Tonga’s flag into Maracanã shirtless, wearing a ta’ovala and oil.[2]

  3. @StacyStClair seed · Aug 6 ’16

    Stacy St. Clair posted that Brazil loved Tonga’s shirtless flag bearer at 01:41 UTC.[3][4]

  1. press · Aug 6 ’16

  2. peak · Aug 6 ’16

Join free to see the other 13 events and the full chart. Free, on every case.

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Why it worked

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