“This is definitely the highlight of my life here,” said Lydia Ko after winning the Olympic gold medal in golf. “I don’t think I’ve ever experienced this kind of adrenaline before, and to do it here, it really doesn’t get any better than this.”
For Lydia Ko, winning the tournament was not as easy as it should have been. She was tied for the lead at the start of the final round, but by the back nine holes she was five strokes ahead of the field. The golf course was no walk in the park, as anyone watching the men’s or women’s tournament could see. When the ball hit the water on the 13th hole, she opened the door to her competition, making her victory all the more difficult.
“I hit a great tee shot on hole 13 and to be honest I didn’t think it would go into the water and it wasn’t a bad golf shot either,” she explained the one big mistake of her round.
German Esther Henseleit finished with 8 under par and Chinese Xiyu Lin with 7 under par, securing the medal places.
“At the beginning of this week, everyone was saying, ‘Oh, what if you finish and collect gold in addition to silver and bronze?'” she told the media after her victory. “Of course I want to do that and I’ll do it, but that’s easier said than done.”
She was so focused on it that she deactivated her Instagram for a week because she didn’t want to be influenced by what others were saying. She said she didn’t have the New Zealand national anthem on repeat on Spotify, but when she heard it at the medal ceremony, she could definitely understand why Scottie Scheffler was crying. She cried, too.
Ko knew where she stood all day. She paid attention to the leaderboard so she knew what to do. Her focus was on hitting “quality golf shots” to give herself opportunities to score points. She was determined not to let others dictate how she should play. Of course, that’s easier said than done. The result showed how determined Ko is as a competitor.
“My tee shot on 18 and the second one on the fairway gave me a little relief, but I know that golf isn’t over until the end,” she said. “I wanted to stay focused until the ball landed in the hole.”
Added to that was the added pressure of needing one more win to be inducted into the Hall of Fame under LPGA criteria.
“Did I imagine I would be able to do this at the Paris Olympics? Probably not. But this is definitely the coolest way to do it,” she added. “The fact that it all came together here at the Olympics is really cool. So it’s a reward for the whole team and the whole family.”
Her husband was in the US during the event, but Ko wrote his name on her tombstone so she would be reminded that he was always with her.
Before this year, Ko had already won a silver medal at the 2016 Olympics and a bronze medal at the 2020 Olympics. How many people can say that?
She has competed in all three Olympic Games since golf was reinstated. Of course, she has the distinct advantage that New Zealand doesn’t have as many professional golfers as countries like the US, so competition for places isn’t as fierce. But she deserves credit for winning a medal at every Games. Three medals at three Olympic Games is pretty strong. At this point, she has ruled out competing in 2024.
