At the same time, the eye through which she was aiming was protected by a specialized lens designed to enhance her visibility of the target. The athlete also wore a cap with a visor to reduce glare affecting her vision. In contrast, Yusuf opted for a more conventional approach, competing solely with his standard prescription glasses. In an interview with Turkish media, he elaborated on his choice to forgo additional equipment, stating, “I have never required such gear. I am a natural shooter, which is why I prefer to limit my accessories.” Yusuf, alongside his teammate Sevval Ilayda Tarhan, ultimately secured the silver medal for Turkey in the event. This marked Yusuf’s fifth appearance at the Olympic Games in shooting. Following the competition, he expressed his satisfaction, remarking, “I am simply thrilled to have participated in five Olympic Games. We performed exceptionally well today.”
Currently, he and his teammate are focused on securing a gold medal at the upcoming Olympics in Los Angeles. He stated, “We will go to Los Angeles next and win a gold medal.” Despite his outward appearance of composure, his teammate disclosed that this was not entirely accurate. She remarked, “He experienced significant anxiety and felt immense pressure. Our hearts are racing. It is truly challenging to perform in the final of the Olympic Games.” Following the circulation of a viral image depicting Yusuf casually aiming, many individuals expressed their opinions on social media. One commenter noted, “I appreciate how everyone else uses specialized lenses for shooting to minimize blur and enhance accuracy… Yet Turkey sends out a competitor who appears to have just picked up the gun for leisure and secures a silver medal.”
And another joked: “Did Turkey send a hitman to the Olympics?”
The most bizarre, discontinued Olympic sports
Painting
Back in the day, the Olympics dished out medals for art too, with events including painting and sculpture, as well as music, architecture and even literature.
Making its debut all the way back at the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm and continuing until the 1948 London games, juries awarded competitors a total of 151 medals for artistic projects inspired by sport.
Tug of War
Bet you didn’t think this playground classic was once part of the Olympics, did you?
Well, it turns out not only was the sport popular, but it stirred up a lot of drama too – with accusations of foul play flying around at the 1908 Olympics in London, with Team USA accusing Team GB of cheating due to their ‘illegal’ heavy footwear.
A mainstay for around five Olympic games from 1900 to 1920, Tug of War enthusiasts have even campaigned for organisers to reintroduce the retired sport back into the Games.
Hot Air Balloon Racing
Launching at the 1900 Olympics, hot air balloon drivers would compete in races scoring how far they could travel, altitude reached, ability to land within the correct coordinates and – to top it all off – who got the best photo from the balloon.
The sport ended up being canned after a ban on motorised sports was brought in.
Live Pigeon Shooting
Also making its debut at the 1900 Olympics, the event was pretty self explanatory – a load of pigeons were released into the air as the competitor tried to shoot as many as possible. Grim.
The event only appeared at the Games once, and all in all, it’s estimated that Olympic hopefuls killed around 300 pigeons.
Pistol Duelling
It doesn’t take much guessing as to why this event was scrapped, but back in 1906, people clearly didn’t bat an eyelid at competitors waving pistols around and shooting at each other.
It began with competitors shooting at dummies, but two years later organisers decided to shake things up and have them shoot at each other with wax bullets. Ouch.
1908 would be the last time the sport was included in the Olympics, so I’m guessing they quickly realised it was a bad idea – wax bullets or not.
