Olympic pistol shooter who won a medal despite having no specialist equipment finally responds to going viral
An extremely laid-back Olympic silver medalist who made history in Paris has opened up on becoming an overnight sensation.
Yusuf Dikec, 51, has a legion of new fans after he and his teammate Sevval Illayda Tarhan won Turkey's first ever medal in the 10m air pistol mixed team competition.
Wearing a pair of run-of-the-mill prescription glasses, Dikec opted against wearing special lenses or ear protectors, instead relying on his "natural" talent to perform on the biggest stage.
In fact, unlike the vast majority of his competitors, Dikec looked incredibly relaxed as he earned an Olympic silver with one hand in his pocket.
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Speaking to Turkish news outlet Anadolu, the silver-haired sensation says he "never expected" his actions to create such a stir this summer.
"People sometimes say, 'it's so easy, you won a medal with your hand in your pocket'. That's what shows on the outside, but behind this medal is 24 years of hard work," he said. "I train for 4-5 hours six days a week."
Dikec, who says his source of motivation is Başak, his nine-year-old daughter, also opened up becoming an Olympic-level shooter.
"I started the sport very late, I started when I was 28. At first, when we went to competitions in Europe and the world, we considered making it to the finals as a success," he said.
"Today, after 24 years, we have started to feel sad about finishing second in the Olympics. We have many young friends, they will surpass us. I am old, but we have shown that success can be achieved by hard work.
"What is important is not wanting something very much, but the effort you put in to achieve what you want."
The Olympic #shootingsport stars we didn’t know we needed.
— The Olympic Games (@Olympics) August 1, 2024
🇰🇷 Kim Yeji 🤝 Yusuf Dikeç 🇹🇷 pic.twitter.com/gfkyGjFg4I
The 51-year-old, a five-time Olympian who competed at the 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020 Games, is now looking ahead to the future.
"What was missing in that collection was an Olympic medal," he added. "The collection would have been complete if it was gold. If I won a gold in this Olympics, I was thinking of quitting.
"I am very good, and Ilayda is very good too. If God allows, we will win the gold medal in 2028."
Jack Kenmare