Iconic Olympic shooter who won silver medal with 'no equipment' explains why he didn't use any in first interview
You never know who'll emerge as an unlikely star of the Olympic Games until they're on and folks are absolutely loving a Turkish shooter who rocked up with seemingly no equipment and won a silver medal.
This guy is Yusuf Dikeç, a 51-year-old pistol shooter who has set the internet alight with memes and speculation that he's secretly a hitman or something.
He's been named 'the definition of aura' for showing up to his Olympic event in glasses and a t-shirt when many others were wearing some pretty nifty equipment.
We asked an expert what the deal was with his lack of kit, and apparently the man himself is a 'lovely guy' who is also a 'really impressive' shot for taking aim without gear like a blinder, and opening fire with both eyes open.
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One of the best ways to describe being cool is making the difficult seem effortless, and in this regard, Dikeç is very damn cool indeed.
Now the man himself has spoken out on his impressive shooting skills, with the 51-year-old explaining why he wasn't wearing some of the gear that many of his competitors had on.
According to Turkish outlets, Dikeç has already returned to Turkey after picking up Olympic silver and explained his shooting style once he arrived at Istanbul airport.
"We might appear at ease, but inside we are battling a storm, and it feels like our hearts might burst. We strive to keep this from showing," he said of his shooting style.
"Since I shoot with my both eyes open, I don't find the equipment very comfortable. I believe that highlighting one's talent is essential.
"The attention from the global media has been both uplifting and motivating for us. I didn’t anticipate such a level of recognition; it caught me by surprise."
The 51-year-old also believes that the first shooting medal in his nation's history could be followed up with gold at the 2028 Olympics.
Much of what Dikeç is saying tallies with what British shooting prospect James Miller told LADbible about him previously.
Lots of people picked up on Yusuf having his hand in his pocket, a popular technique for pistol shooters at the Olympics, and apparently 'the idea is to be as relaxed as possible'.
With the 51-year-old talking about 'battling a storm' on the inside and feeling like his heart might burst, it's no wonder he'd wear what he was most comfortable with and do whatever he needed to be as relaxed as possible.
While Olympic gold eluded him this time, Yusuf Dikeç has previously won gold at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Championships, the ISSF World Cup, and several golds at the European Shooting Championships.
The most bizarre, discontinued Olympic sports
Painting
Back in the day, the Olympics dished out medals for art too, with events including painting and sculpture, as well as music, architecture and even literature.
Making its debut all the way back at the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm and continuing until the 1948 London games, juries awarded competitors a total of 151 medals for artistic projects inspired by sport.
Tug of War
Bet you didn't think this playground classic was once part of the Olympics, did you?
Well, it turns out not only was the sport popular, but it stirred up a lot of drama too - with accusations of foul play flying around at the 1908 Olympics in London, with Team USA accusing Team GB of cheating due to their 'illegal' heavy footwear.
A mainstay for around five Olympic games from 1900 to 1920, Tug of War enthusiasts have even campaigned for organisers to reintroduce the retired sport back into the Games.
Hot Air Balloon Racing
Launching at the 1900 Olympics, hot air balloon drivers would compete in races scoring how far they could travel, altitude reached, ability to land within the correct coordinates and - to top it all off - who got the best photo from the balloon.
The sport ended up being canned after a ban on motorised sports was brought in.
Live Pigeon Shooting
Also making its debut at the 1900 Olympics, the event was pretty self explanatory - a load of pigeons were released into the air as the competitor tried to shoot as many as possible. Grim.
The event only appeared at the Games once, and all in all, it's estimated that Olympic hopefuls killed around 300 pigeons.
Pistol Duelling
It doesn't take much guessing as to why this event was scrapped, but back in 1906, people clearly didn't bat an eyelid at competitors waving pistols around and shooting at each other.
It began with competitors shooting at dummies, but two years later organisers decided to shake things up and have them shoot at each other with wax bullets. Ouch.
1908 would be the last time the sport was included in the Olympics, so I'm guessing they quickly realised it was a bad idea - wax bullets or not.
Joe Harker