Lydia Ko has completed a historic golfing trifecta at the Olympics.The Kiwi great 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 in what will be her final Games, she revealed afterwards.
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.
She was part of New Zealand’s greatest day at the Olympics, with Dame Lisa Carrington and Hamish Kerr also winning gold. No other golfer of any gender has won more than one Olympic medal. Ko told media it would be her last competition at the Games, not returning at the Riviera Golf Club in Los Angeles in 2028.
“I feel like I knew internally it was my last Olympics and it was but I didn’t want to say it tilll after it was done.
“The tears were not just because of that moment [winning gold] but everything that’s happened in my career.” 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.
