Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
Claim
Short profile of Turkish Olympic medallist and viral sensation Yusuf Dikeç, describing him as a mechanic in an Istanbul garage who took up shooting to cope with his divorce and to prove his ex-wife wrong.
Fact
The write-up was first shared by a Facebook page that posts satirical articles and memes related to sports; Dikec is a retired non-commissioned officer of Turkey’s paramilitary police force.
Turkish Olympic pistol shooter Yusuf Dikeç broke the Internet on Thursday after a picture of his nonchalant stance and casual attire at the Paris 2024 Olympics went viral. With one hand in his pocket, wearing prescription glasses and without any of the specialised gear sported by his rivals, 51-year-old Dikeç’s seemingly impassive approach to shooting did not stop him from bagging a silver medal with his partner Sevval IIayda Tarhan in the 10-metre air pistol mixed team event, sparking a meme fest and conspiracy theories on social media.
Among the many posts hailing Dikeç on social media, several users are circulating a purported short profile, describing his unexpected rise from a mechanic who took up shooting to cope with his divorce proceedings to being an Olympic medallist and now Internet sensation.
Here’s how it reads:
Dikec Yusuf, who only recently took up shooting after a particularly heated argument with his ex-wife, credits his success to his newfound passion for seeing his kids and a relentless drive to prove his ex wrong. “I never thought I’d be here,” Yusuf said, shrugging nonchalantly. “I was just aiming for a weekend with the kids.”
The 52-year-old, who works as a mechanic in a small garage in Istanbul, first picked up a gun during a particularly frustrating divorce mediation. His unorthodox approach – no specialty gear, no training regimen, and a wardrobe consisting of his everyday jeans and a T-shirt – has baffled professional shooters. “He just shows up, shoots a near perfect round, and then asks if there’s a smoking area nearby.” After winning silver, Yusuf stood emotionless on the Olympic podium and declared, “Sharon, if you’re watching this, I want my dog back.”
The archived version of the tweet can be seen here.
Fact Check
Newschecker came across multiple profiles, seen here, here and here, about the Turkish athlete who has competed at every Summer Olympics since 2008.
“Dikeç is no stranger to shooting: Paris 2024 is his fifth Olympics, having represented Turkey in 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020 beforehand. He also holds several titles from the World and European Championships for various pistol events. He’s also a retired non-commissioned officer of the Turkish Gendarmerie,” read an EuroNews article, dated August 1, 2024. The same was corroborated by his official bio on the Olympic website, stating that he studied at the Gazi University School of Physical Training and Education (Ankara, TUR) and received a Master’s in Coaching from the Selcuk University (Konya, TUR). There is no mention of him being a mechanic in any of the reports nor the bio, which stated that he began competing in shooting from 2001. “I took up shooting after I started working as a non-commissioned officer for the Gendarmerie General Command,” further read the bio, contradicting the viral claim.
Newschecker learnt that the Gendarmerie of the Turkish Republic is an armed general law enforcement organisation, which maintains security, safety and public order and executes the duties ascribed to it by other laws.
We then found that the profile first appeared on August 1, 2024 (17:57 pm), on a Facebook page, The Sports Memery, whose bio reads, “Satire /Parody & memes. Nothing is real here. Sports are hilarious, come laugh with us.” Newschecker also did not find evidence, as per media monitoring platform NewsWhip, of the story being posted on any social media website before it appeared on the Facebook page, thus confirming that it was a satirical article. We have reached out to the Facebook page and will update this article once we receive a response.
Also Read: Viral Video Showing Dog Rescue In Landslides-Hit Wayanad Is Old & Unrelated
Conclusion
Satirical piece on Turkish Olympic target shooter and viral Internet star being shared as real.
Result: Satire
Source
Olympic official website
Facebook post, The Sports Memery, August 1, 2024
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Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
