CHATEAUROUX, France Turkish shooter Yusuf Dikec has gone viral on social media for his seemingly casual attitude as he targets a silver medal at the 2024 Olympics.
The most shared images show Dikec photographing with a t-shirt, one hand in his pocket, a seemingly standard pair of glasses and an impassive expression on his face. He has been compared to a regular guy competing in the Olympics, or even a hit man.
The 51-year-old is no newcomer. He has competed in every Summer Olympics since 2008.
Some memes compare Dikec to his Serbian opponent Damir Mikec, who wore a blindfold on one eye, a lens on the other, and a large pair of earmuffs.
He did and it made history.
Dikec and Sevval Ilayda Tarhan won the silver medal in the mixed team 10-meter air pistol shooting on Tuesday. It was Turkey’s first medal in Olympic shooting.
Mikec and Zorana Arunovic won gold to Serbia. Bronze went to Indians Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh.
Unlike Dikec, his teammate Tarhan competed with large earflaps and a visor, as well as braids in the red and white colors of the Turkish flag. She was shooting with one hand in her pocket too.
Dikec placed 13th in the individual event and is now at the Paris Olympics. He is looking forward to the next Games in 2028, however. “I hope in Los Angeles (for) a gold medal,” he said on Tuesday.
Dikec appears to be embracing the trend, re-posting a compilation of Turkish-language meme videos about him on his Instagram page.
The shooting events were held about a three-hour drive south of Paris. Dikec and Tarhan traveled to the French capital on Wednesday, where they were received with applause at the Champions Parkan outdoor venue where medalists celebrate with fans.
Shooters have some freedom about how they dress for competition.
Many shooters at the Olympic range in Chateauroux, central France, choose to wear face shields to reduce glare from the lights or so-called blinders over one eye to get better focus for the eye looking down.
It is not quite true that Dikec did not use any shooting equipment. He wore yellow earplugs to block out distractions while shooting the final. They simply weren’t visible from the angle of the image that went viral.
Like Dikec, Chinese shooter Liu Yukun won a gold medal on Thursday wearing earmuffs but no visor or visor.
Yes, South Korean sniper Kim Yeji’s confident demeanor and dramatic stance have brought praise on social media for her “lead character energy.”
“The #shootingsport Olympic stars we didn’t know we needed,” the official X Olympics account posted on Thursday with photos of Kim and Dikec.
Kim won silver in the women’s 10-meter air pistol event on Sunday behind her South Korean teammate Oh Ye Jin. Kim and Ah they are roommates and Kim said she was pleased that Oh won the gold because she sees her as a “little sister.”
Kim is expected to compete again on Friday in qualifying for the women’s 25 meter pistol event.
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