PARIS — One of the unlikely viral stars of these Summer Olympics is a 51-year-old from Mersin, Turkey, who picked up the sport of 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 competing in his fifth Olympic Games, but on Tuesday he and teammate Sevval Ilayda Tarhan won Turkey’s first-ever shooting medal: silver in the 10m air pistol mixed team competition.
What has made Dikeç a worldwide sensation, however, is a photo of him from the competition, gun raised, standing in what appears to be a state of great calm, his left hand casually in his trouser pocket.
Unlike most of his competitors, who wear sophisticated, specialized eyewear to block the vision of their non-dominant eye (in Dikeç’s case, his left eye) or reduce glare, Dikeç wears only a simple pair of frames that he could have purchased from LensCrafters—if they had a location in Turkey. He also eschews any form of hearing protection.
For comparison, here’s what it looked like compared to the competition:
Dikeç looked like a guy who just walked in, shot, and took home the silver. It was a completely badass photo. Many online jokingly — or not so jokingly — wondered if his country had just sent a hitman to the Olympics.
Actually, he wasn’t calm at all… it was the Olympics after all.
“He had so much fear, so much pressure on his heart,” Tarhan said after her partner’s match, with Dikeç beside her, in agreement. “Our heartbeats are really beating. Really beating so hard. It’s really hard to shoot in the final of the Olympics.”
In any case, Dikeç will continue the unofficial “Glasses Olympics”, after numerous high-profile victories by athletes who wear striking glasses during or just before and after the competition.
That includes American gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik, who wore his glasses until just before he jumped on the horse in the team competition and delivered a performance that won him bronze. Nedoroscik has an eye condition that requires him to wear glasses, but says he doesn’t need them in competition.
“I don’t think I use my eyes on the pommel horse,” Nedoroscik said. “It’s all feel. I see with my hands.”
There was also Australian swimmer Kaylee McKeown, who won the 100-meter backstroke, but because she doesn’t wear her goggles in the pool, she had no idea if she was actually a gold medalist when she hit the wall. The scoreboard was out of focus.
“I mean, without my glasses I can’t see much,” McKeown said.
She was joined at the swimming centre by Irish swimmer Daniel Wiffin, who won the 800m freestyle and subsequently wore his goggles on the podium.
No one jokes about “four eyes” around Dikeç. He is a decorated shooter — both European and world champion, despite not using the most modern technology. This was his fifth Olympic Games, which he was particularly proud of.
“I’m just really happy with five Olympics,” he said. “We were really strong in our competition today.”
If you’re a new American fan of his, you might be in luck. Dikeç and Tarhan aren’t slowing down and have their sights set on the 2028 Summer Olympics and are even doing better than silver.
“We are the next [come] “go to Los Angeles and win a gold medal,” Dikeç said.
