After firing his way to silver in Paris, Turkish marksman Yusuf Dikeç now has his sights locked on gold in Los Angeles – and he’s not going alone.
At the Air Guns Türkiye Championships held at the Olympic Shooting Complex bearing his name in Erdemli, Dikeç joined fellow Olympian Şevval Ilayda Tarhan to gift sponsor-donated equipment to young athletes training at the facility.
The two national stars, who are fresh off a silver medal in the 10-meter mixed team pistol at Paris 2024, used the occasion to ignite ambition among Türkiye’s rising shooting talents.
“Out of this range, we’ll see future Olympians,” Dikeç told reporters. “Young athletes are hungry. They grind every day. With this momentum, we can bring home at least three medals from L.A.”
The facility, named the Yusuf Dikeç-Şevval İlayda Tarhan Olympic Shooting Complex, has become a proving ground for Türkiye’s top gunners.
This week’s national tournament doubles as a selection ground for the World Cup in Germany this June.
“The World Cup is our next battleground,” said Dikeç. “We’ll go with a strong squad and we won’t come back empty-handed. Our athletes are scoring better and dreaming bigger.”
Dikeç believes Türkiye now ranks among the world’s top five in airgun disciplines.
That belief is backed by results: at the recent European Championships in Croatia, the national team bagged eight medals – four gold, two silver, two bronze – signaling a generational rise.
The 2028 Olympics, he said, will be a defining chapter. “We’re on track to send a full squad to L.A.,” he added. “Fifteen of our athletes have joined the Türkiye Olympic Preparation Center. Five are already national team members. That number will grow.”
Tarhan, also in Mersin preparing for upcoming international events, echoed her teammate’s drive. “We’re treating every domestic event like a world championship,” she said. “Germany is key, but so is the European Firearms Championship after that. We’re training hard to make sure our flag flies high.”