PARIS — One of the unlikely viral stars of these Summer Olympics is a 51-year-old from Mersin, Turkey, who took up his sport, shooting, while serving as a corporal in his country’s Gendarmerie General Command. He’s single, has a daughter and counts “dancing” as his hobby.
Yusuf Dikeç is in his fifth Olympics, and on Tuesday, along with teammate Sevval Ilayda Tarhan, he captured Turkey’s first-ever shooting medal, a silver in the 10m air pistol mixed team competition.
What has made Dikeç a global sensation, however, is a picture of him from the competition: pistol raised, standing in what appears to be a state of great calm. His left hand rests casually in the pocket of his pants.
Unlike most competitors who wear modern, specialized glasses to block the vision of their non-dominant eye (in Dikeç’s case, his left) or cut down on glare, Dikeç is sporting only simple frames that he could have bought at LensCrafters — if they had an outlet in Turkey. He also eschews any kind of ear protection.
Here’s how he looked compared to the competition:
Dikeç looked like a guy who just walked up, shot and took home the silver. It was a complete badass photo. Many online jokingly — or not so jokingly — wondered if his country just sent an assassin to the Olympics.
In fact, he wasn’t calm at all … this being the Olympics.
“He had so much anxiety, so much pressure on his heart,” Tarhan said after the competition of her partner, with Dikeç next to her, agreeing. “Our heartbeat is really beating. Is really so much beating. It is really hard to shoot in the final of the Olympic games.”
If anything Dikeç continues what has unofficially been dubbed the “Glasses Olympics” after numerous high-profile triumphs from athletes who sport prominent glasses either during or just before and after competition.
That includes American gymnast, Stephen Nedoroscik, who wore his glasses until moments before jumping on the pommel horse in the team competition and delivering a bronze medal-clinching performance. Nedoroscik has an eye condition that mandates the glasses but says he doesn’t need them in competition.
“I don’t think I use my eyes on pommel horse,” Nedoroscik said. “It’s all feeling. I see with my hands.”
There’s also Australian swimmer Kaylee McKeown, who won the 100-meter backstroke. Because she doesn’t wear her glasses in the pool, she had no idea when she touched the wall whether she was actually a gold medalist. The scoreboard wasn’t in focus.
“I mean, without my glasses, I can’t see too much,” McKeown said.
She was joined at the aquatics center by Irish swimmer Daniel Wiffin, who won the 800-meter free and then wore his glasses atop the podium.
No one is making “four-eye” jokes around Dikeç. He is a decorated shooter — both a European and World Champion, despite not using the most modern of technology. This was his fifth Olympics, which was of particular pride.
“I am just very happy about five Olympic Games,” he said. “We were very strong today in our competition.”
If you are a new American fan of his, then you may be in luck. Dikeç and Tarhan are not slowing down and have their sights set on the 2028 Summer Olympics and doing even better than silver.
“We next [come] to Los Angeles and win a gold medal,” Dikeç said.
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