Hand in hand, Turkish shooter Dikek and South Korea’s ‘sci-fi killer’ Kim have put their fame aside. Today we will discuss about Yusuf Dikeg wins Turkish shooter silver: Olympics 2024.
Yusuf Dikeg wins Turkish shooter silver: Olympics 2024
Olympic shooters are getting a lot of attention for their cyberpunk-looking gear. But one of them stands out for its decidedly low-tech look — and the fact that it still made it to the stage.
On Tuesday, Turkey’s Yusuf Dikek won a silver medal and instant online fame in the air pistol mixed team competition. The Internet decided that his winning quality was his seeming carelessness.
While many of Dikek’s competitors were decked out in big ear protectors, visors and sci-fi-esque shooting goggles, he gave it a different take with regular goggles and barely-visible ear plugs.
Wearing a jersey that looked like a simple T-shirt, and shooting with his free hand in his pants pocket, the 51-year-old gave off a particularly casual vibe.
So casual, in fact, that many social media users jokingly wondered if Turkey had sent a hitman to the Olympics. Some called his aura “infinite”, others “insane”.
And many noted the difference between Daekke and South Korean shooter Kim Yeji, whose futuristic aesthetic and unflappable demeanor made her an overnight style sensation earlier this week.
The memes jokingly depict the dichotomy between Google Sheets versus Microsoft Excel, man versus woman packing for a trip, and anime hero versus recently divorced engineer.
One viral tweet read, “South Korea sends fully prepared athlete to Olympic shooting.” “Turkey sent a man who had no special lenses, eye covering or ear protection and he won the silver medal.”
Dikek and her teammate, Sevval Ilaida Tarhan, won the silver medal in the mixed team 10 m air pistol event, bringing home Turkey’s first medal in Olympic shooting.
He finished 13th in his individual event, and is already looking forward to his next Olympics.
According to the Associated Press, he later said, “I hope to get a gold medal in Los Angeles next.”
Olympics 2024
Dikek’s biography states that he began shooting after he began working as a non-commissioned officer for the Gendarmerie General Command (an armed law enforcement organization in Turkey) in 2001.
His current occupation is listed as “athlete” and Euronews reports that he is retired from the Gendarmerie.
Dikek lists exactly one hobby on her bio page: dancing. She’s also a cat lover, as social media spies quickly discovered.
Ironically, his philosophy is, “Success is not achieved with your hand in your pocket.”
Shooting glasses – a customizable combo of a lens, mechanical iris and blinders that together can help athletes better line up their marks – have become fairly standard in recent years, though obviously not all athletes There is no need to use them.
Dikek told Turkish radio station Radio Gol that while most shooters use one eye, he prefers to use both.
“Shooting with two eyes — I believe it’s better,” he said, according to CNN’s translation. “I did a lot of research on it, so I didn’t need equipment.”
According to the AP, Chinese rifle shooter Liu Yukun won the gold medal on Thursday with a similarly reduced set of gear — only earplugs, no blinders or visor.
And Dykek isn’t the only athlete who shoots with his other hand in his pocket. He told the radio station that it was a matter of feeling more motivated and comfortable.
“This stance is really about bringing the body into balance and focus,” he said.
It looks like Dikek is taking his social media stardom further, reposting several memes (and of course, a photo of his silver medal) on his Instagram page. He has also continued to defend his style.
Euronews reports that he told the Turkish press: “I didn’t need special equipment. I’m a natural, natural shooter.”
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