Yusuf Dikec took social media by storm in the early days of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris with his calm and cool demeanor as he won a silver medal in the 10-meter air pistol mixed team event.
However, Dikec revealed what was actually going through his mind as he and his teammate Sevval Ilayda Tarhan battled Serbia's Zorana Arunovic and Damir Mikec for the gold medal. After having a handful of days to dissect his emotions, the 51-year-old Turkish star shared how he was feeling in that moment.
"At that moment, everyone says I seemed very calm, but actually, storms were raging inside," Dikec said [ h/t BBC ]. "I think my shooting pose represented the Olympic spirit very well: The fair play, simplicity, clarity and naturalness. That's why it got so much attention."
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Dikec's pose, which saw him win a silver medal donning only regular glasses and yellow earplugs with one hand in his pocket, was one of the biggest stories in the early goings of the 2024 games. Fans on social media compared Dikec's disposition to his opponent Mikec and the difference was night and day as the Serbian had specialized glasses and massive ear protection to aid him.
Interestingly, one of Dikec's quotes from his Olympics.com biography reads as follows: "Success doesn't come with your hands in your pockets," which is ironic considering he helped Turkey win a silver medal with his left hand in his pocket. Regardless, fans quickly gravitated toward Dikec and his attitude, even when the stakes were at their highest.
Once Dikec's pose went viral, many other athletes, both in the Olympics and other sports, imitated the Turkish star's pose. After setting a pole vaulting world record, Sweden's Armand Duplantis did Dikec's pose in front of a crowd of cameras, immortalizing the pose.
Not only that but Australia's Nina Kennedy and Jamaica's Roje Stona, in pole vaulting and discus, did the Turk's pose after their events . Also, Hungary's Kristof Rasovszky and David Betlehem celebrated their gold and bronze medal wins, respectively, by doing Dikec's now-iconic stance .
Elsewhere, AFC Ajax winger Steven Berghuis posed like Dikec after scoring a goal against Panathinaikos with Turkish midfielder Irfan Can Kahveci doing the celebration on Tuesday. Outside of sports, K-Pop star Park Seonghwa also did the pose during one of Ateez's recent concerts.
Along with his pose making waves on social media, one of Dikec's quotes went viral as well. When reportedly asked by Turkish media why he only used his glasses and earplugs, Dikec said simply: "I did not need special equipment. I'm a natural, a natural shooter."
And while the Turk is more well-known than the gold medal-winning duo, Tarhan admitted that Dikec was feeling down by missing out on gold. "He is a little bit sad because we missed the gold medal but he feels good, he felt perfect," she said right after the event ended.
"After 24 years - he started 24 years ago - so after 24 years, he get the Olympic medal so he felt well." With the prospect of a gold medal within reach, Dikec gave a confident message as the Olympic Games comes to an end.
"My partner and I will get the gold at the Los Angeles 2028 Games. I've only lent the gold medal until 2028," he concluded.
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