Dutch windsurfer Kiran Badloe has been a huge hit at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, not only for winning gold in the men’s RS:X windsurfing class.

The athlete also apprehended the curiosity of the audience and also bewitched them with his daring haircut, his hair shaved into the shape of a blue arrow pointing in the direction of his forehead in homage to Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Avatar: The Last Airbender is set in an Asiatic-like world in which certain people can manipulate one of the four elements—water, earth, fire, or air—with telekinetic variants of the Chinese martial arts known as “bending”, which follows the adventures of Aang, a 12-year-old master airbender who has the ability to bend all four elements. The only individual who can bend all four elements, the “Avatar”, is responsible for maintaining a balance between the world’s four nations and serves as the bridge between the physical world and the spirit world. The series is presented in a style that combines anime with American cartoons, and relies on the imagery of mainly East Asian culture, with some South Asian, New World, and Inuit and Sireniki influences.

So, it would be apt for the 26-year-old Dutch windsurfer would choose to pay homage to the protagonist of the animated series, hoping that Aang’s powers could give him some boost.

Before the final event of his category, when it was pretty much certain that Kiran is going to win a gold, he explained the significance of his haircut for which he has received applause from around the globe.

“It’s about a kid that controls the wind, and he needs to control all different kinds of elements of nature in order to do something great, and I’m doing the same here,” he told Reuters. “I need to be in tune with the wind and in tune with the water and everything around, and hopefully that leads me to something great.”

When asked if the haircut has worked in his favor at the Tokyo Olympics, the windsurfer beamed with a smile and said, “I have been able to piece something together in these Olympics races, so I think it worked in my favour.”

Several fans of The Last Airbender were ecstatic to see Kiran pay tribute to Aang during his Olympics campaign.

‘Avatar Ang has awoken to be a windsurfer… Legend!’ one person tweeted.

‘My man Kiran Badloe wins Olympic gold after going full Avatar. Love to see it,’ another said.

‘I have just become aware of Kiran Badloe and his Avatar hairstyle for the Olympics and I am officially obsessed,’ someone else remarked.

‘And I believe, Kiran can save the world *insert climactic Avatar theme music*,’ another commented.