TURKYISH shooter Yusuf Dikec shot to fame on the Internet for his seemingly casual attitude on the way to picking up an Olympic silver medal, nonchalantly “shooting” with his hand in his pocket with a standard pair of glasses and an impassive look on his face.
Memes of Yusuf, 51, have gone viral, with many likening him to an everyman taking part in the Olympics, or even a hitman!
However, one viral story circulating on social media claims that he stood “emotionless” on the podium after getting his silver medal and said, “Sharon, if you’re watching this, I want my dog back.”
The story alleged that this was an apparent dig at an ex-wife.
Is it true that Yusuf demanded that his ex-wife return his dog while on the podium?
VERDICT:
FALSE
The account of Yusuf’s apparent dig at an ex-wife went viral after a Facebook account called “The Sports Memery” shared a post claiming to explain his origin story, calling him a mechanic who took up shooting after a difficult divorce, lifestyle portal People.com reported.
The post, which has been liked more than 500,000 times, also shared the allegation about Yusuf wanting his dog back.
However, People.com reported that this was not true, as the post was satire and that Yusuf has been shooting competitively since 2001, when he started working as a non-commissioned officer for the Gendarmerie General Command.
The Gendarmerie is a unit under the Turkiye Ministry of Interior that is responsible for public order in areas that fall outside the jurisdiction of the police, among others.
People.com also reported that Yusuf is a five-time Olympian who previously competed at the 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020 editions.
He celebrated his win, which he achieved in the 10m air pistol mixed team event alongside teammate Sevval Ilayda Tarhan, with a selfie on Instagram that also included his silver medal and the Eiffel Tower.
“I am very happy that we have won the first Olympic medal in the history of the republic to my country of 85 million people who sent us off with their prayers. This medal belongs to the REPUBLIC OF TURKIYE,” he said in his post (auto-translated by Instagram).
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