Did Turkey send Hitman to Olympics: 51-year-old shooter won silver without kit; India got bronze in the same event

Turkey’s 51-year-old shooter Yusuf Dikek won his country’s first medal in shooting in Olympic history.

Turkey’s 51-year-old shooter Yusuf Dik has become a social media star these days. He won the silver medal in the 10 meter air pistol mixed team event of the Paris Olympics. The special thing was that he did not use his shooting kit in the event.

Yousuf picked up his pistol in the final of the shooting event, put his hands in his pockets and along with fellow player Sewal Elayda Tarhan, won an Olympic silver for the country.

Turkiye’s Yusuf Dikek (right) and Ilayda Tarhan (left) with their silver medals in the 10m air pistol mixed team event.

What is a matter of concern for India is that in the same event, the pair of Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh won the bronze medal despite having all the shooting gear.

Didn’t wear any shooting gear?
The final of the 10 meter air pistol mixed team event was played on Wednesday night. It is being said on social media that Turkey’s Yusuf went shooting without wearing eye and ear protective gear i.e. shooting kit.

However, the truth is that Yusuf did use small earplugs so that he could ignore the outside sound. The earplugs were not visible in the photos and videos, so users assumed that Yusuf had landed without the shooting kit. Whereas, his partner Tehran had used all the shooting kits during this time.

From this angle, it is clearly visible that Yusuf Dikek (right) is wearing earbuds. However, this was his only shooting gear.

What is in a shooting kit?
Two equipments are used in the shooting kit. One is glasses and the other is headphones. Glasses have two lenses, the first lens removes blurred vision and the second lens gives concentration on the target. Whereas headphones provide noise cancellation, i.e. the shooter does not hear any external sound.

Users said- Did Turkey send a hitman?
Users on social media are claiming that Yusuf won the silver medal without using even a single shooting kit. That is why he is also going viral. A photo of him surfaced, in which Yusuf was seen wearing a white T-shirt, he kept one hand in his pocket and won the medal by taking aim.

Users on social media are now making him more famous with funny comments. A user asked, ‘Has Turkey sent a hitman to the Olympics?’ Hitman means a professional shooter, who is paid to kill a person. A user wrote, ‘Turkey sent a 51-year-old youth, who won silver without special lenses and ear protection.’ To which ‘X’ owner Elon Musk also replied saying ‘nice’.

A user on social media asked, did Turkey send a hitman to the Olympics?

Missed gold by 2 points
This is not the first time that Turkey’s Yusuf is playing in the Olympics. He first participated in the Beijing Olympics in 2008. However, he achieved success only now at the age of 16. The silver medal in the 10 meter air pistol event is the first Olympic medal of his career. Not only this, this is also Turkey’s first Olympic medal in shooting history.

Yusuf and his partner Tarhan lost the gold medal to the Serbian pair by a margin of just 2 points. The Serbian pair of Damir Mikec and Zorana Arunovic won the gold medal by a margin of 16-14. In the same event, the Indian pair of Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh won the bronze medal.

All the medalists in the 10m air pistol mixed event. Serbia got gold, Turkey got silver and India got bronze medal.

Yusuf will also play in 2028 Olympics
Yusuf won a silver medal in the mixed shooting event. However, he finished 13th in the men’s individual event. After his medal-winning performance, he said that winning a gold medal in the 2028 Olympics is his next target.