Yusuf Dikec had no need for your fancy protective gear. He did not need your visors, nor your glasses. At 51, he was content to walk onto the biggest stage of his career dressed like a middle-aged parent waiting by the curb at school pick-up.
And for that, he now has a silver medal and internet fame from the 2024 Olympics.
Dikec, from Mersin, Turkey, was among competitors decked out in all manners of equipment. Some wore large ear protection, and some wore specialized lenses for shooting. He appeared to be wearing a casual jersey, slacks and the small protective earplugs you can buy at a local Home Depot.
Some social media users wondered whether Turkey had sent a hitman.
Dikec and his partner, Sevval Ilayda Tarhan, secured a silver medal in the 10m air pistol mixed competition on Tuesday. A widely circulated viral photo from the event shows Dikec in a white T-shirt wearing an ordinary pair of glasses, raising a pistol with one hand while the other is casually tucked away in his pocket.
Unlike his competitors, the five-time Olympian also keeps both eyes open when he shoots. Dikec’s distinctive stance is the result of figuring out what works for him, he explained to Turkish radio station Radyo Gol.
“I shoot with both eyes, most shooters do it with one. So I didn’t want all that equipment. Shooting with two eyes — I believe that it’s better. I’ve done a lot of research on it, so I didn’t need the equipment,” he said according to a translation by CNN.
Dikec is not alone in foregoing visors, which combat glare, and custom glasses, which reduce eye strain and help sight targets. As AP reports, rifle shooter Liu Yukun of China won a gold medal Thursday similarly wearing foam ear plugs and no visor or lens.
Dikec also noted in his interview that putting his hands in his pocket keeps him motivated and even keeled.
“Shooting with my hand in my pocket has nothing to do with artistry. I am more motivated and feel more comfortable while shooting,” he explained. “It is actually about bringing the body to equilibrium and focusing and concentrating.”
Other shooters, like his partner Tarhan, also use this form.
During the finals match, Dikec’s team jumped out an early 8-4 lead but Serbia’s Damir Mikec and Zorana Arunovic managed to narrow the gap to 14-12, then mount a successful comeback to win 16-14. The second place finish nevertheless gave Turkey its first-ever Olympic-shooting medal.
Outwardly, Dikec may have seemed calm and unruffled, but there was pressure to deliver, as Tarhan explained.
“He had so much anxiety, so much pressure on his heart,” she said. “Our heartbeat is really beating. Is really so much beating. It is really hard to shoot in the final of the Olympic games.”
Dikec explained his relaxed approach to competition in the Turkish press. “I did not need special equipment,” he said, according to EuroNews. “I’m a natural, a natural shooter.”
According his Olympic profile, Dikec took up the sport in 2001 after he started working as a non-commissioned officer for the Gendarmerie General Command. He’s a double world champion in 2014 in the 25m standard pistol and 25m centre fire pistol and seven-time air pistol European champion.
According to the profile, Dikec’s personal motto is, “Success doesn’t come with your hands in your pockets.” Perhaps it’s time for a new motto.