Other than the controversy and mishaps, no one has really been caring about the Paris Olympics. I watched BTS’s Jin and that cool parkour Assassin’s Creed dude carry the torch, then quit caring afterwards…that was until the shooting competitions begin taking the Internet by storm.
So far, China, Korea, and the United States have the majority of medals in these categories overall, but it was a pair of sci-fi action heroes from Korea and one casual badass from Turkey that caught everyone’s attention.
First, there was Olympic record breaking women’s shooter Kim Yeji of Korea in the 10-meter air pistol category. She was praised for “main character” energy and being the coolest person in the world. From her special lenses, to her stoic demeanor in the sport, to letting the world know she’s a mom (the little elephant towel on her belt is her daughter’s), she rocked.
Another Korean shooter, rifle shooter Choe Dae-han, unfortunately didn’t earn a medal. Yet his look, stance and demeanor was straight out of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, and he won a ton of attention for it. He’s only 19, (I think) so he can still come back with vengeance next time.
I mean, c’mon, check out that cool stance in this viral image:

And then there’s 51-year-old Turkish pistol shooter, Yusef Dikec, part of Turkey’s air pistol team. He showed up in a team t-shirt and jeans, no special eyegear, and just shoots with one hand in his pocket…like a boss! He wandered up and helped his team take silver.
And now he is everyone’s hero.
Of course, with the Internet being the Internet, the manga, and movie, and meme tributes popped up everywhere throughout the week, and they are fantastic. Here’s a few of my favorites just from Twitter alone:
…and my favorite of all…
I have to give some love to all those who competed and won gold medals, but failed to gain as much attention. But hey, there’s something to be said about style and attitude, and these three shooters gave us one thing cool remember from this year’s games.
Stay sharp, all of you.