Claim:
Turkish Sport Shooter Yusuf Dikec, who won a silver medal in air pistol at the 2024 Paris Olympics, picked up the sport after a heated argument with his ex-wife.
Rating:
Labeled Satire ( About this rating? )
On Aug. 1, 2024, posts appeared online claiming that Turkish sport shooter Yusuf Dikec, who became a viral sensation for his performance in the air pistol event at the Paris Olympics, had taken up the sport following an argument with his ex-wife. We found examples of the claim on Facebook and X , and Snopes readers wrote in to ask whether it was true.
https://www.facebook.com/thesportsmemery/posts/999952635439952
The post read, in part:
Dikec Yusuf, who only recently took up shooting after a particularly heated argument with his ex-wife, credits his success to his newfound passion for seeing his kids and a relentless drive to prove his ex wrong. "I never thought I'd be here," Yusuf said, shrugging nonchalantly. "I was just aiming for a weekend with the kids."
The 52-year-old, who works as a mechanic in a small garage in Istanbul, first picked up a gun during a particularly frustrating divorce mediation.
…
After winning silver, Yusuf stood emotionless on the Olympic podium and declared, "Sharon, if you're watching this, I want my dog back."
Some readers seemed to interpret the rumor about Dikec's origin story as a factual recounting of real-life events. However, none of the story was true. Rather, the rumor about Dikec originated with The Sports Memery — a Facebook page that describes its output as being humorous or satirical in nature. Its bio states:
Satire / Parody & memes. Nothing is real here. Sports are hilarious, come laugh with us.
Furthermore, an Aug. 2, 2024, post on The Sports Memery page directly addressed the viral claim about Dikec by stating that it (and all content found on the page) was satirical and none of it was real.
Meanwhile, some users took the claim even further by spoofing the wording of the "ex-wife" post. One user on X instead joked that Dikec took up shooting because he was frustrated by " seeing really dumb - I mean just blatant lies - go viral on LinkedIn ."
The fictional story spread after Dikec's performance in the mixed team 10-meter air pistol event at the 2024 Olympics, where he competed without the intricate sharpshooting gear often worn by sport shooters. But his relaxed and casual look worked well — Dikec and fellow Turkish shooter Sevval Ilayda Tarhan won silver in the event, earning Turkey's first medal in shooting.
Snopes has addressed similar satirical claims about the 2024 Paris Olympics since the Games began on July 26, 2024, including the assertion that the 2024 Games were the "lowest-rated" in history and rumors claiming that various sponsors had pulled sponsorships following the opening ceremony .
For background, here is why we alert readers to rumors created by sources that call their output humorous or satirical.
Sources:
"British Shooter Nathan Hales Wins Olympic Men's Trap Gold. Guatemala Gets Its 2nd-Ever Medal."
AP News , 30 July 2024, https://apnews.com/article/olympics-2024-shooting-nathan-hales-d167e3fe4e74408acca14c46482769d0. "No, Viral Turkish Shooter Yusuf Dikeç Did Not Ask His Ex-Wife to Return His Dog After Winning Silver Medal."
Peoplemag , https://people.com/no-viral-turkish-shooter-yusuf-dikec-did-not-ask-ex-wife-return-dog-2024-paris-olympics-8687912. Accessed 2 Aug. 2024. "Who Is Yusuf Dikec, the Turkish Shooter Who Went Viral at the 2024 Olympics?"
AP News , 1 Aug. 2024, https://apnews.com/article/olympics-2024-yusuf-dikec-turkish-shooter-a7890124304080a48e7ee4294004d306.
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