The New York Liberty blew out the Los Angeles Sparks, 103-68, on Thursday with stellar scoring performances from stars Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu. However, their performances aside, one cool little moment in the game brought back memories of the recently concluded 2024 Paris Olympics, where Team USA women's basketball won a gold medal. During the Sparks game, as Stewart drained a three, her teammate Ionescu celebrated with the iconic pose of Turkish Olympic shooter Yusuf Dikec, which became a global meme immediately after his shooting event.
Check out the Ionescu in a side-by-side comparison with Dikec on X, formerly Twitter.
Olympics glory for Liberty's Sabrina Ionescu
By the way, the Olympic shooter isn't just about cool poses. Together with his teammate, Sevval Ilayda Tarhan, he won the silver medal in the 10m air pistol mixed-team event in Paris. Still, the man became an instant meme thanks to his laid-back pose and lack of high-tech equipment compared to their competitors. It was like he had just woken up from a nap and decided to join the shooting events at the Olympic games.
The media also caught up with the Olympic shooter upon his homecoming.
“At that moment, everyone says I seemed very calm, but actually storms were raging inside me,” said Yusuk Dikec about his viral Olympic moment. “I think my shooting pose represented the Olympic spirit very well: the fair play, simplicity, clarity and naturalness. That's why it got so much attention. I never needed that equipment. I am a natural. A natural shooter. That's why I don't use many accessories.”
Meanwhile, the Team USA women's basketball team faced their toughest test in a dominant Olympic run in the gold medal game against France. The neck-and-neck game ended with a 67-66 victory for the Americans, clinching the eighth consecutive Olympic gold for USA basketball.
The team needed everything from its stars and bench contributors to overcome the French. Las Vegas Aces star A'ja Wilson scored 21 points, grabbed 13 rebounds, and blocked four shots, while Phoenix Mercury standout Kahleah Copper gave them a bench spark with 12 points, scoring ten of them in the fourth quarter.
Coming home
After the Olympics, Sabrina Ionescu and Breanna Stewart picked up where they left off as the Liberty improved to a league-best 22-4 record after the Sparks beatdown. The Liberty look poised to redeem their WNBA Finals loss to the Aces last season. Can they finally overcome A'ja Wilson and the stacked Aces team and add more gold to their trophy case?
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