The Newest Olympic Star Is A 51-Year-Old Shooter From Turkey, And The Internet Can’t Get Enough

One of my absolute favorite things about the Olympics is all the unexpected heroes and breakout stars. Yes, quite a few of the medals are won by big names who have dominated their sports for an extended period of time like Katie Ledecky and Simone Biles, but many more of them are won by people the vast majority of viewers have never seen before. With the whole world watching in a way that rarely happens with so much modern niche programming, it creates the perfect environment for unknowns to become mega-stars, at least for a few days. It happened to USA pommel horse wizard Stephen Nedoroscik earlier in the games, and now, it’s happened to Turkish shooter Yusuf Dikec.

I don’t know how much time you’ve spent watching shooting during the Olympics, but it doesn’t exactly look like the stereotype of drunk buddies shooting at tin cans in their backyards anymore. Most of the shooters have speciality glasses that cover one of their eyes, as well as big ear covers. Not Yusuf Dikec. The 51 year old retired officer in Turkey’s Gendarmerie shoots with plain glasses, a hand in his pocket and a t-shirt. You can check out the image below that first went mega-viral on social…

The above photo has been liked more than a million times on X, formerly known as Twitter, and other versions and shots have been widely shared on social media, especially because the story has such a happy ending. Despite his seeming nonchalance about the whole thing, Dikec, along with his partner Sevval Ilayda Tarhan, won the Silver Medal in the Mixed 10M Air Pistol competition. It marked the first platform finish in a shooting event in history for Turkey and he was widely lauded on social media.

Some of the most popular tweets of Dikec included side-by-sides of him and other shooters. The most popular of the juxtapositions was likely ones with Kim Yeji, a South Korean shooter who finished second in the Women’s 10M Air Pistol competition while looking like a futuristic character out of a science fiction novel. You can check out one of the many comparisons below…

One of the other things many fans have pointed out is how Dikec shoots with two eyes. That’s extremely uncommon in high level shooting, which is why so many competitors wear specialty glasses to keep one of their eyes covered. Not Dikec. He told the Turkish outlet Radyo Gol that he likes shooting with two eyes and without the extra equipment. He describes himself as a natural shooter and just puts his hand in his back pocket to help with equilibrium.

There’s also good news if you missed Dikec’s performance. He told CNN he’s planning to come back for another round in Los Angeles in 2028, where he hopes to win a gold medal. I have no idea if he’ll be able to accomplish the feat, but I can promise he’ll look cool trying.