Pita Taufatofua, the Tonga Olympic flag bearer who went viral in Rio and PyeongChang, began his quest to make a third straight Olympics in a third different sport with a last-place finish in his opening-round heat at the world sprint kayak championships in Hungary on Wednesday.
The start of the heat appeared delayed as Taufatofua struggled to get his kayak into his position in the water. He was left at the start as the other six kayakers raced out and finished between 33 and 40 seconds. Taufatofua took 58.19 seconds.
Taufatofua, 35, was the oldest athlete in the eight-man heat by nearly a decade.