PARIS — One of the unexpected viral stars of these Summer Olympics is a 51-year-old man from Mersin, Turkey, who took up sport shooting while serving as a corporal in his country’s Gendarmerie General Command. He is single, has one daughter and considers “dancing” his hobby.
Yusuf Dikeç is at his fifth Olympics, but on Tuesday, along with teammate Sevval Ilayda Tarhan, he captured Turkey’s first shooting medal, a silver in the 10m air pistol mixed team competition.
What has made Dikeç a global sensation, however, is a photograph of him at the competition, gun raised, standing in what appears to be a state of great calm, his left hand in his trouser pocket.
Unlike most competitors who use modern, specialized glasses to block vision from their non-dominant eye (in Dikeç’s case, the left one) or reduce glare, Dikeç sports a simple frame that he could have purchased at LensCrafters, if they had a store in Turkey. He also eschews any kind of ear protection.
For comparison, here’s what it looked like against the competition:
Dikeç looked like a guy who just walked up, shot and took home the silver medal. It was an absolutely incredible photo. Many online wondered, jokingly (or not so jokingly), if their country had just sent a murderer to the Olympics.
In fact, I wasn’t calm at all… considering it was the Olympics and all.
“I had a lot of anxiety, a lot of pressure on my heart,” Tarhan said after his partner’s competition, with Dikeç at his side, who agreed. “Our hearts beat very hard. They really beat a lot. It’s very difficult to shoot in the final of the Olympics.”
In any case, Dikeç is continuing what has unofficially been dubbed the “Olympics of glasses” after numerous high-profile triumphs by athletes wearing prominent glasses during or just before and after competition.
Among them is American gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik, who wore his glasses until moments before he vaulted onto the pommel horse in the team competition and put in a bronze-medal performance. Nedoroscik has an eye condition that requires him to wear glasses, but he says he doesn’t need them in competition.
“I don’t think I use my eyes to see the pommel horse,” Nedoroscik said. “It’s all about touch. I see with my hands.”
Also present was Australian swimmer Kaylee McKeown, who won the 100m backstroke but, as she does not wear goggles in the pool, had no idea whether she had actually won the gold medal when she touched the wall. The scoreboard was not in focus.
“I mean, without my glasses I can’t see much,” McKeown said.
She was joined in the aquatics centre by Irish swimmer Daniel Wiffin, who won the 800m freestyle and then wore her goggles to the top of the podium.
No one jokes about the “four eyes” theme. Dikeç is a decorated shooter, a European and world champion, despite not using the most modern technology. These were his fifth Olympic Games, which filled him with particular pride.
“I am very happy to have competed in five Olympic Games,” he said. “Today we were very strong in our competition.”
If you’re a new American fan of his, then you might be in luck. Dikeç and Tarhan aren’t slowing down and have their sights set on the 2028 Summer Olympics and doing better than a silver medal.
“Then we will go to Los Angeles and win a gold medal,” Dikeç said.
