It all started with resurfaced footage from a humble ISSF World Cup event in Baku; now the sport has moved into a stratospheric position online.
Del Walker, a principal gaming artist and BAFTA Committee member, tweeted on 30 July, shortly after the women’s 10m air pistol final, a video of Republic of Korea’s Olympic silver medallist Kim Ye-ji breaking the world record in such a cool fashion, nonchalantly going through the motions of disassembling her pistol and fixing her blinders, topped with a backwards cap.
His caption was what we were all thinking: “The most ‘Main Character Energy’ I’ve ever seen in my life.”
She was compared to and considered a worthy foe of fictional hitman John Wick, an assassin, a Berlin techno club-goer, people online jokingly guessed her star sign, she became an internet crush and was called “literally too cool to be a real person”.
That same day, Turkish Twitter accounts were finding the love for Yusuf Dikec, (pictured, X), who was part of the 10m air pistol mixed team final with Sevval Ilayda Tarhan, winning the silver medal in the process.
While Kim was regarded as a badass, Dikec was considered the opposite, in some respects.
There were many who marvelled at his rejection of blinders, choosing to just wear his prescription glasses. Quickly comparisons were made with the several gadgets on Kim and the outfit of Chinese shooter Sheng Lihao, as opposed to the middle-aged man who gave his glasses a wipe, put his Turkiye team t-shirt on, put his hand in his pocket and shot.
Much like the comments made about Kim, Dikec was jokingly called an assassin who turned up for the Olympics, with comparisons to Breaking Bad’s Walter White, further shared by the likes of American author John Green to their thousands of followers.
Soon, Dikec would be rechristened “Turkish Dad”, for his unassuming style compared to his opponents. None of that fancy gear, just shoot. On Japanese Twitter he was given the moniker “Uncle Free-to-Play”, meaning he is a gamer who would be able to win online games without resorting to spending money. Both Kim and Dikec were drawn by new, passionate fans around the world, particularly in the manga art style.
With as many sports as there are at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, shooting all of a sudden became beloved by thousands online, who tuned in to watch the finals.
Soon, there was a full team of “Avengers”. Kim, Dikec and Sheng were joined by Jiang Ranxin – lightly characterised as portraying someone who is angry – and the turban-wearing Sikh, Sarabjot Singh from India.
Then, Zhang Qiongyue’s Hello Kitty rifle went viral, with users finding the juxtaposition of the gun with the innocence of a beloved, cute mascot, amusing.
The trends were catching on, to the point Le Phryge, the Paris 2024 mascot, had a go at pistol shooting.
Yet, shooting has transcended the internet and onto the big screen in some of the biggest moments of the Olympic Games.
Most notably, etched forever in history, will be the new world record from Swedish pole vaulter Armand “Mondo” Duplantis, who cleared 6.25 metres, having already claimed the Olympic gold medal in the men’s event. He celebrated by stretching his arm out and copying the pose of Yusuf Dikec. Turkish Dad is forever immortalised in Olympic history in one of the most-watched sport at the Games, athletics.
In his interview afterwards, he said Australian pole vaulter Kurtis Marschall egged him on to do the pose.
“I guess he kind of dared me to do it,” said Duplantis in the press conference.
“He was just like, ‘bro, do that Turkish shooter dude celebration’ and I was like ‘Yeah sounds cool to me’ so I just did it.
“I thought it was a funny meme, he seems like a G.
“I just thought it was kind of more like a funny thing.”
His tribute was followed by women’s high jump gold medallist Nina Kennedy from Australia and Roje Stona from Jamaica, victor in the men’s discus, copying the pose too.
It doesn’t stop at the Olympic Games, shooting has unsurprisingly, made its way into football celebrations too.
A last-minute equaliser for Rangers Football Club’s Cyriel Dessers against Dynamo Kyiv in Champions League Qualifying led to the Dutch striker pointing a finger pistol to the travelling fans.
Turkish club Fenerbahce also scored an equaliser in an away match against French outfit LOSC Lille, leading to scorer Irfan Kahveci replicating the gesture.
On the range, the action has been fantastic, but the coverage and love from the internet has been just as special. People’s ability to find fun in what is the norm for shooting sport fans may have just raised the sport’s profile going into the next Games.