Tonga (TGA)

Tonga first competed at the 1984 Olympic Games, and has attended all subsequent editions. Tonga’s only Olympic medal to date came in 1996, when boxer Paea Wolfgramm finished second in the super-heavyweight class. However, their best known athlete has likely been Pita Nikolas Taufatofua, who competed in taekwondo at Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and then returned as a cross-country skiier at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, and then returned to taekwondo at Tokyo 2020 for his best result, a tie for seventh place.

Not well remembered is that Taufatofua was not the first Tongan to compete at the Olympic Winter Games, as that was luger Bruno Banani in 2014 men’s luge singles, finishing in the 32nd position, a best for Winter athletes from Tonga. Banani and Taufatofua also carried the Tongan flag at the 2014 and 2018 Winter Olympic Opening Ceremonies, respectively, the country’s only appearances at the Winter Olympics.