Lydia Ko to Hibernate Amid Gold Medal Hype to ’Focus‘ on the Next Biggest Mental Battle After Entering Hall of Fame
A silver, a bronze, and finally, a gold! It’s nothing much, but just the medal tally of a certain New Zealand golfer who emerged victorious at the recent Paris Games. And the name’s not just Lydia Ko; it’s ‘Legend’ Lydia Ko. Well, just like the never-ending effort she took to reach that status, it appears the golfer is preparing herself for her next battle. But before that, the Kiwi seems to be well set on taking a “break.”
The 27-year-old shared a story on her Instagram handle, exuding gratitude for all the support she received ahead of the Olympic win and during the same. “Thinking about this past week, still brings tears to my eyes, I’m extremely honored and grateful.” The Pro also didn’t forget to express her gratitude to her country, New Zealand, family (parents and husband), team, and various sponsors for “being on this unbelievable journey with me(sic)!”
But the major part of her announcement came at the end when Lydia Ko revealed her plans to take a break from social media. “As cool as this past week has been,” wrote the New Zealand Pro, “I’m excited to play in Scotland these next couple weeks. Going to take another break from social media and focus on the tournaments ahead. ” The golfer, thus, alluded to her presence in the upcoming event, the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open, that is set to take place in Scotland.
Meanwhile, this is not the first time that the 20-time LPGA Tour pro has taken a break from social media. Interestingly, she had done the same ahead of her event at the quadrennial Games that took place in Le Golf National, Paris. “I deleted my Instagram for the week because I didn’t want other things to distract me,” recounted Ko, “Obviously that shows how much time I’m on my Instagram. I was like, what do I do?”
The result? The Kiwi was able to enter the Hall of Fame through her gold medal win at the Paris Games. She did so by carding a 10-under overall 278 with the help of the figures she put up over the four days of play, at 72-67-68-71. And, as a result, the athlete was able to beat the likes of Esther Henseleit and Xiyu Lin, both of whom received the silver and the bronze, respectively. A scintillating win at her last Olympics.
Lydia Ko’s ‘fairytale’ ending at the Olympics
“The Paris 2024 games are officially the last Olympics I will be competing in,” divulged the Hall of Famer after her win at the quadrennial event. “It couldn’t have been more of a fairytale ending to my Olympic career by bringing home a gold medal for my country.” The athlete had carded a bronze medal back at the Tokyo Games while clinching a Silver medal during the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
The LPGA Tour Pro also expressed how much of an honor it was to represent her country at the Games before conveying her pride while standing on the podium. She wrote on her Instagram, “Competing in the @olympics and representing my country has been the biggest honor in my life, and there are no words to express the emotions I felt whilst listening to my national anthem on the podium.” And if what she said might come true in the 2028 Olympics that is to be held in LA, then Lydia Ko truly got to decide her farewell at the Olympics, just like she wrote in her yardage book; “I get to write my own ending.”
