Lydia Ko Weeps Uncontrollably as Late Grandmother’s Bittersweet Memory Intertwines With Her Historic Gold Medal in Paris
Being a gold medalist is a journey. Especially when it comes in a way of a historic win. Lydia Ko first won a silver in the 2016 Rio Olympics, then a bronze in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and now at the Paris Olympics she is taking back a gold. With this, she became the only golfer to win all three medals and to have what some people are calling an Olympic Slam. However, there is one less family member who will celebrate her victory for the second time.
Just a week before her 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Lydia Ko lost her grandmother. With grief and a heavy heart, she had descended on the greens and lost in a play-off against Mone Inami. Nonetheless, she got a bronze. Back then, her situation was tangled in such bittersweet circumstances that even her tears were in a conundrum. She confessed that she played for her grandmother. And hence, the bronze medal is something to be extremely proud of. Yet, Ko did not have her grandma to celebrate with.
According to NBC Sports, Lydia Ko had revealed her reason for playing in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She confessed with a broken heart, “I just wanted to make our family really proud and our country proud, and to be able to win a medal for them means so much to everyone who has been on this journey with me. This has been for my grandmother.”
Back then, Lydia Ko had also hinted at how she might have wished for a different color of the medal, but she was content with the outcome. She changed her fate this time around. She has finally claimed the gold she wanted last time. Although her grandmother is no longer with her, she must be proud of her achievement.
