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Tonga's Shirtless Flag Bearer Wasn't At The Opening Ceremony, But American Samoa's Was

Nathan Crumpton braved freezing temperatures to wave the flag for American Samoa to kick off the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
By 

Reporter, HuffPost

and

General Assignment Reporter, HuffPost

Meet the successor to Pita Taufatofua.

The metaphorical baton of Tongan athlete Taufatofua’s shirtless and oiled-up appearances as flag bearer during Olympic opening ceremonies was passed to American Samoa’s Nathan Crumpton on Friday.

With Taufatofu not competing in China, the attention instead turned to Crumpton, a Kenyan-born, Princeton-graduate skeleton racer, as he strolled into Beijing’s National Stadium to mark the official start of the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Open Image Modal
Nathan Crumpton carries the flag for American Samoa into Beijng's National Stadium during Friday's opening ceremony.
picture alliance via Getty Images

Twitter users, perhaps predictably, enjoyed his appearance:

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