Turkish shooter Yusuf Dikec, who won a silver medal at the Paris Olympics 2024 in the 10m air pistol competition, became a viral sensation for his “gearless” look. Several posts about his casual look, without wearing any protective earplugs or lenses went viral on social media. Now, the Olympian took to X (formerly Twitter) and invited billionaire Elon Musk to Turkey’s capital Istanbul. The SpaceX and Tesla Chief reacted in a witty way, amusing his followers.
“Hi Elon, do you think future robots can win medals at the Olympics with their hands in their pockets?” the shooter wrote on the microblogging platform. Mr Dikec suggested that they should discuss the same in his country’s capital. “How about discussing this in Istanbul, the cultural capital that unites continents?” he added alongside a picture of himself from his Olympics event.
Replying to this, Mr Musk wrote, “Robots will hit the center of the bullseye every time.”
In another post, he said, “I do look forward to visiting Istanbul. It is one of the great cities of the world.”
Since being shared, the post has amassed over six million views on the social media platform.
“That is, if robots will have pockets,” said a user.
“Robot Olympics,” stated a person.
A third said, “Robots could never have this amount of aura.”
“Robots would need trainers, so it would be great if you’d be one of them. Looking forward to the convo between you and Elon,” remarked a fourth user.
“No robot can be like you,” said a person.
“Some of the most ancient archeological sites in the world are in Turkey. A lot of mysteries still to be solved!” a user added.
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Notably, Mr Dikec is a four-time Olympian, having competed in 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020. The 51-year-old began shooting competitively in 2001, following his employment with the Gendarmerie General Command as a non-commissioned officer.
He described his shooting method as one of the “rare shooting techniques in the world,” in an interview with the Turkish broadcaster TGRT Haber. The shooter said that several referees were shocked to see his performance with both eyes open. Mr Dikec went on to say that given their intense training, a medal was expected. “This year we prepared a lot and worked a lot… this success belongs to all of Turkey.”
