Swedish pole vault star pays tribute to viral Turkish shooter and he responds

Swedish pole vaulter Armand “Mondo” Duplantis channelled the iconic Turkish shooter Yusuf Dikec with his celebration after taking gold at the Paris Olympics.

Olympic fans became obsessed with Turkish shooter Dikec thanks to his totally relaxed shooting stance, with one hand in his back pocket. His laid-back appearance didn’t stop him from achieving greatness, as he took home the silver medal in the 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team and earned himself a place in internet history while doing it.

Among Dikec’s new-found fanbase appears to be Duplantis who, on 5 August, beat his own world record to take the Olympic pole vault title.

In front of the crowd at the Stade de France, the Swede cleared a height of 6.25 meters to win the gold. As he celebrated, he channelled fellow Olympic medal winner Dikec by hilariously mimicking the meme of his casual shooting stance, including putting his hand in an imaginary pocket.

The 24-year-old quickly went viral on social media and even caught the attention of Dikec himself who took to X/Twitter to personally congratulate Duplantis on his victory.

One person wrote: “Cold celebration Mondo Duplantis.”

Another said: “Mondo Duplantis is very entertaining, the ‘shooter’ celebration after that last jump was classic.”

Someone else argued: “That Duplantis celebration: +10000000 aura.”

In his post-win press conference, Duplantis explained that Australian pole vaulter Kurtis Marschall “dared” him to do the celebration and added Dikec “seems like a G”.

“What can I say? I just broke a world record at the Olympics, the biggest possible stage for a pole vaulter,” Duplantis said after his victory.

“The biggest dream since a kid was to break the world record at the Olympics, and I’ve been able to do that in front of the most ridiculous crowd I’ve ever competed in front of.”

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