Olympics 2024: Lydia Ko makes history, adding gold to Olympic ...

10 Aug 2024

New Zealand Herald

NZ Herald

10 Aug, 2024 04:11 PM2 mins to read

Lydia Ko has overcome plenty of nervous moments in her final round at Le Golf National in Paris to claim gold and become the first golfer to complete a full set of Olympic medals.

Ko began the day in a tie for the lead and certainly wasn’t flawless - a double-bogey on the 13th was particularly shaky - but managed to pair enough blemishes with class to claim the one shade of medal missing on her mantlepiece; after silver in Rio and bronze in Tokyo.

No other golfer of any gender has won more than one Olympic medal.

Ko’s victory also guarantees her an induction into the LPGA Hall of Fame, getting the final point after achieving a medal set that may never be equalled by man or woman.

Her Olympic victory ended a serious form slump for the former world number one who had struggled, without a top-three finish since January, on the LPGA Tour.

However, after bogeying the first hole and saving par from a difficult position on the second, Ko fired a flawless 10 holes, featuring three birdies, to pull five shots clear of the field.

A trip to the drink on the 13th helped bring the lead down to two and Germany’s Esther Henseleit moved to within one of Ko’s total with four holes to play. But that’s where her experience shined.

It was Ko’s gold medal to lose and she managed to hang on to her one-shot lead through the difficult 15th and 16th holes before a birdie on the 18th sealed a two-shot victory.

That round followed rounds of 72, 67 and 68 on the previous three days to cap off a superb performance on a an extremely challenging course.

Her final total of 10-under was two clear of Henseleit in the silver medal position with China’s Xiyu Janet Lin another shot back in bronze.

Hear it as it happens with live commentary of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on GOLD SPORT & iHeartRadio, plus comprehensive coverage on Newstalk ZB.

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