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Lifestyle
A conspicuously dressed-down shooter won Olympic silver. Then he went viral
![A conspicuously dressed-down shooter won Olympic silver. Then he went viral A conspicuously dressed-down shooter won Olympic silver. Then he went viral](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4905x2759+0+255/resize/1400/quality/100/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fb9%2F02%2F96f452d24468a27e4056368a1df3%2Fgettyimages-2163848592.jpg)
Turkey’s Yusuf Dikec, pictured competing in the shooting 10m air pistol mixed team gold medal match at Chateauroux Shooting Center on Tuesday, went viral for his casual look.
Alain Jocard/AFP
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Alain Jocard/AFP
NPR is in Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics. For more of our coverage from the Games, head to our latest updates.
Olympic shooters have been getting lots of attention for their cyberpunk-looking gear. But one is standing out for his decidedly lower-tech look — and the fact that he got to the podium nonetheless.
On Tuesday, Turkey’s Yusuf Dikec shot his way to a silver medal in the air pistol mixed team competition, and to instant online fame. His winning quality, the internet decided, was his seeming nonchalance.
While many of Dikec’s competitors were decked out in large ear protectors, visors and sci fi-esque shooting glasses, he played it a different kind of cool with regular eyeglasses and barely visible ear plugs.
![CHATEAUROUX, FRANCE - JULY 28: Kim Yeji of Team Republic of Korea shoots during the Women’s 10m Air Pistol Final on day two of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Chateauroux Shooting Centre on July 28, 2024 in Chateauroux, France. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3795x3795+948+0/resize/100/quality/100/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fed%2Fb9%2F291632ff46eb8f8f43a8e0054269%2Fkim1.jpg)
Wearing a jersey that looked like an ordinary T-shirt, and shooting with his free hand tucked in his pants pocket, the 51-year-old gave off a noticeably casual vibe.
So casual, in fact, that scores of social media users jokingly wondered whether Turkey had sent a hitman to the Olympics. Some praised his aura as “infinite,” others as “insane.”
“We need you out of retirement for one last job.”
“Who?”
“Not who, but where. The Olympics, in France. You’ve always been our best shooter.” pic.twitter.com/4yZhElPSRA
— @goth (@goth600) August 1, 2024
And many drew a contrast between Dikec and South Korean shooter Kim Yeji, whose futuristic aesthetic and unflappable demeanor made her an overnight style sensation earlier this week.
Memes joked that the two embodied the contrast between Google Sheets vs. Microsoft Excel, men vs. women packing for a trip and anime protagonist vs. recently divorced engineer, to name a few.
“South Korea sent a fully-kitted out player for the Olympic shooting,” read one viral tweet. “Turkey sent [a] guy with no specialized lenses, eye cover or ear protection and got the silver medal.”
Dikec and his teammate, Sevval Ilayda Tarhan, won silver in the mixed team 10-meter air pistol event, bringing home Turkey’s first-ever medal in Olympic shooting.
He placed 13th in his individual event, and is already looking ahead to his next Olympics.
“I hope next in Los Angeles (for) a gold medal,” he said afterward, according to the Associated Press.
The former officer loves dancing and cats
This is Dikec’s fifth Olympics — he has competed in shooting events in every Summer Games since 2008.
He’s also a seven-time European champion and 2014 double world champion in the 25m standard pistol and 25m centerfire pistol, according to his Olympics biography.
![Olivia Reeves of the United States lifts in the women's 81kg weightlifting event at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, on Oct. 23, 2023.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5760x5760+1440+0/resize/100/quality/100/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fb5%2F10%2F5ba3487f46b2b402870cdc34c428%2Fap23296860511888.jpg)
Dikec’s bio says he took up shooting in 2001 after he started working as a non-commissioned officer for the Gendarmerie General Command (an armed law enforcement organization in Turkey).
His current occupation is listed as “athlete,” and EuroNews reports that he retired from the Gendarmerie.
Dikec lists exactly one hobby on his bio page: dancing. He’s also a cat lover, as social media sleuths quickly discovered.
His philosophy, ironically, is, “Success doesn’t come with your hands in your pockets.”
His unique style comes down to personal preference
![Sevval Ilayda Tarhan (L) and Yusuf Dikec (R) pose with the Turkish flag and their silver medals beneath the Eiffel Tower.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3671x2447+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F97%2Fb5%2Fde639c264f96bc65ef832ed0d54b%2Fgettyimages-2164032008.jpg)
Sevval Ilayda Tarhan and Yusuf Dikec pose with the Turkish flag and their silver medals beneath the Eiffel Tower on Wednesday.
Miguel Medina/AFP via Getty Images
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Miguel Medina/AFP via Getty Images
Shooting glasses — a customizable combo of a lens, mechanical iris and blinders that together can help athletes better line up their mark — have become pretty standard in recent years, though clearly not all athletes are required to use them.
Dikec told Turkish radio station Radyo Gol that while most shooters use one eye, he prefers to use both.
“Shooting with two eyes — I believe that it’s better,” he said, according to a translation from CNN. “I’ve done a lot of research on it, so I didn’t need the equipment.”
![Henrik Christiansen peeks his head out of a door with company logos on it.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/2000x2000+510+0/resize/100/quality/100/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fcc%2F9f%2Fd1d9bc6b4adcbb6c686086f7efdf%2Fgettyimages-1449794398.jpg)
Chinese rifle shooter Liu Yukun won a gold medal Thursday with a similarly sparse set of gear, the AP notes — just earplugs, with no blinder or visor.
And Dikec is not the only athlete who shoots with his other hand in his pocket. He told the radio station that it’s a matter of feeling more motivated and comfortable.
The stance “is actually about bringing the body to equilibrium and focusing and concentrating,” he added.
Dikec seems to be taking his social media stardom in stride, reposting several memes to his Instagram page (and, of course, a photo of his silver medal). He has also continued to defend his style.
EuroNews reports that he told the Turkish press: “I did not need special equipment. I’m a natural, a natural shooter.”
Lifestyle
How Paul & Shark Is Activating in Unexpected Locations with Purpose
![How Paul & Shark Is Activating in Unexpected Locations with Purpose How Paul & Shark Is Activating in Unexpected Locations with Purpose](https://img.businessoffashion.com/resizer/v2/VGOLKN5IHFDT7PFXVYY5M5WNYI.jpg?smart=true&auth=9a49b2edfdf1e98dde5a6894a81d7e74be008a55f47c130db20e03d21e960653&width=1200&height=630)
Lifestyle
Abby Wambach has won 2 gold medals. She says real success came later : Wild Card with Rachel Martin
![Abby Wambach has won 2 gold medals. She says real success came later : Wild Card with Rachel Martin Abby Wambach has won 2 gold medals. She says real success came later : Wild Card with Rachel Martin](https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2024/07/31/landscape-ep-art-template-b-1-_wide-264a2513cbb5825c2b7c4c741dace51c2de1218a.jpg?s=1400&c=100&f=jpeg)
Abby Wambach celebrates the 5-2 victory against Japan in the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada in 2015.
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Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
Abby Wambach celebrates the 5-2 victory against Japan in the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada in 2015.
Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
A note from Wild Card host Rachel Martin: We’ve all got unexpected turns in our lives, right? But let’s be honest, some people have more than most. And I am going to put Abby Wambach in that camp. Here’s the short version of what went down.
She’s this global U.S. soccer star with two Olympic gold medals and a World Cup championship. She also holds the U.S. goal scoring record for women and men. She’s on top of the world. When she retires from soccer in 2015, life becomes disorienting. And it turns out she’s been hiding a drinking problem, and roughly five months later she gets a DUI. Then comes rehab, and a personal reckoning.
![Ani DiFranco wants you to know she's more than a '90s feminist cult icon](https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2024/07/24/square-ep-art-template-a-2-_sq-796b8899e0a6756ae2857ba8dcfcf2cf0e96281b.jpg?s=100&c=85&f=jpeg)
She writes a book about all of it, then goes to an event to promote said book and ends up meeting the woman who would become her second wife, the author Glennon Doyle. Now she’s the stepmom of three kids, a leadership coach, and the co-host of the hit podcast she does with Doyle called We Can Do Hard Things.
I mean, she’s only 44 and Abby Wambach has lived at least three lives. And in her show, you hear all the stuff Wambach has learned in those lives.
And if for any reason you are feeling a little bit down, watch Wambach’s winning goal against Brazil in the 2004 gold medal Olympics match (it’s at 2:07:30 in the clip below). Just do it. You will feel happier. Trust me.
Abby Wambach’s goal against Brazil in 2004.
YouTube
This Wild Card interview has been edited for length and clarity. Host Rachel Martin asks guests randomly-selected questions from a deck of cards. Tap play above to listen to the full podcast, or read an excerpt below.
Question 1: When you were bored as a kid, where would your imagination take you?
Abby Wambach: When I was growing up, there weren’t any women athletes to watch on television. It was just basically, you know, Michael Jordan. And so I saw him win a lot of championships after scoring those last-second points. And so when I was bored, I would imagine a ball kind of coming in from the sideline into the box and I would imagine myself scoring the goal in the last second.
![Nikki Giovanni doesn't think about her legacy. But here's a moment she felt proud](https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2024/07/10/nikki-giovanni---ep-art_sq-b0b4e1d25f8ecc900eb2aaaf47100ecef77a8d84.jpg?s=100&c=85&f=jpeg)
So when those moments started to actually happen, I had played through this moment so often in my head. And because of the imagining, I never stopped believing that we could have that one moment come to fruition. And people ask me all the time, “How did you score so many big goals in such important moments?” And there’s a lot of reasons for it, but I think one of the first steps is believing and imagining that you can do it before you do it.
Rachel Martin: I mean, that’s so powerful. Now, everybody talks about manifesting, right? Like, you just think it and then it can happen. But that’s like a very clear example of doing that.
Wambach: Yeah. I mean, my wife, it drives her nuts because I’m such an optimist and sometimes that can steer me awry. But if you want something in your life, it’s not just that you are ready for it, it’s that this moment has already happened.
Question 2: Has your idea of success changed over time?
Wambach: I don’t think it necessarily has changed. I think the context of my life has changed. It’s a feeling of self-esteem that I think determined my success. My definition of success is, how do I feel about myself today?
Because I’ve had high levels of success. And I know for certain, when we watch the gold medal ceremonies at the Olympics, the athletes that are standing on that top podium are going to feel really good about themselves. But that moment is fleeting. You have to wake up tomorrow and also feel good about yourself.
Martin: Without all the fanfare.
![](https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2024/07/31/gettyimages-2154079956_custom-37c9b1cb84e07948cc0376e666aab3877d008dd3.jpg?s=1100&c=50&f=jpeg)
Abby Wambach and Glennon Doyle at the Alliance For Women In Media Foundation’s 49th Annual Gracie Awards in May.
Amy Sussman/Getty Images
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Amy Sussman/Getty Images
Wambach: Yeah. And I think that having a gold medal is really cool. I think it’s really cool. But let me tell you, a couple weeks away from the Olympics after getting a gold medal, I still have to look at myself in the mirror and say, “How do I feel about myself today? What did I do today to feel good?”
I can’t rely on being an Olympic gold medal winner and having that be the thing that sustains me throughout my life. Because it doesn’t work. Things that we do in the past will not justify how we feel in the present. And so I think that my idea of success hasn’t changed, because I’ve always kind of held this belief, but I think my definition of what makes me feel good every day has changed throughout my life.
Question 3: Are you comfortable with being forgotten?
Wambach: I am. When I retired, Gatorade pitched me on a possible commercial shoot that they wanted to do for my retirement game. And as I was reading through the storyboards, I just started to weep because the idea of this commercial was, “Forget me.” Because if I am forgotten, then I know that the game has grown and the game is better. If I am forgotten, then somebody else has taken my place. And that is the natural order of the world.
![](https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2024/07/31/gettyimages-1176221648_custom-ea3505021ac52c0ce31d4076626aa6d66454cd2d.jpg?s=1100&c=50&f=jpeg)
Wambach says she is very comfortable with being forgotten.
Ronald Martinez/Getty Images
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Ronald Martinez/Getty Images
I believe that records are meant to be broken. I believe that growth, especially 10 years ago where we were with women’s soccer, was required, was necessary, was not just possible, but inevitable. So I think that we all should live a life like that. I think we should all lay our cards out, leave it on the field, whatever you want to say. And then in the end, if you are forgotten, it means that you have done the right kind of work here to make the world a little bit better by having existed.
![Taylor Tomlinson's mom died young. This is how she stays connected to her memory](https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2024/06/17/square-ep-art-template-d_sq-6c1a07f44afb6469a947951e3ee2b9595d896d85.jpg?s=100&c=85&f=jpeg)
The funniest thing about this is I was coaching my kid’s rec league team about five or six years ago. And we were warming up for the championship game. I was telling them about when I retired from playing soccer. And one of the players said, “Wait, you played soccer?” I said, “Yes.” And she said, “Who did you play for?” And I said, “The United States of America.” And she said, “Oh. Do you know Alex Morgan?” And I was like, sheesh, we need to be careful what we wish for, peeps. So yeah, forget me.
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