When Lydia Ko began her Olympics week at Le Golf National on the outskirts of Paris, she knew something many had speculated but not confirmed. This would be Lydia Ko’s last Olympics. Long having hinted that she wishes to retire by the age of 30 to pursue other interests outside of golf, she stood on the first tee knowing this would likely be her last chance to complete an historic medal slam. Leading into the event, Ko would state: ”If I win gold at this Paris Olympics, someone should get me a glass slipper because I’m a Cinderella story.“
She would end the week with a Gold medal around her neck, having also rightfully earned her place in the LPGA Hall of Fame, and completing a full set of medals across three Olympic Games. She has taken her legacy from one of legend to immortality. The fairytale is complete.
Lydia Ko: From Prodigy to Olympics’ Golfing Great
Lydia Ko had long been heralded as a golfing prodigy. In January 2012 Ko became the youngest golfer, man or woman, ever to win a professional golf tour event when taking out the Women’s NSW Open.
In August later that year, she became the youngest winner on the LPGA tour as an amateur, aged just 15 years old and 4 months. It would surpass the record set by Lexi Thompson at 16 years and seven months in September 2011 by more than a year. Furthermore, it was the first win on the LPGA tour by an amateur in over 43 years.
She was the top-ranked female amateur golfer in the world for 130 weeks before turning professional in October 2013. By February 2015, she would be the number one ranked female golfer.
Winning the Evian Championship in September would be the first of her two major wins, the second coming 6 months later in early 2016. She became the youngest double major winner in the history of the game since Young Tom Morris at the 1869 Open Championship.
The youngest woman to win on the LPGA, the youngest World Number 1, the youngest to win a major, the youngest to win 10 events on a major golfing tour, and this week in the Paris Olympics 2024 Lydia Ko became the youngest golfer to be inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame.
Golf’s Return to The Olympics
Golf made its first appearances at The Olympics in 1900 and 1904, played exclusively by men. Plans for a 1908 tournament never solidified. A dispute about the format saw all British golfers withdraw their entries. This left 1904 Gold medalist Canadian George Lyon as the sole entrant. He was within his rights to claim the Gold medal. He humbly declined.
It would be a long period in The Olympics wilderness. When it eventually returned at the 2016 Rio Olympics, it was hardly a smooth return. The tournament was overshadowed by the threat of the Zika virus, which remained an unknown for many athletes.
The strength of competitors in the Men’s Olympics Golf events suffered. Many cited the Zika virus as their reason for withdrawing. However, it is fair to also surmise many questioned what meaning an Olympic medal would have when compared to major championships. 6 of the top 10 men did not compete. That included all of the top 4. Jason Day (1st), Dustin Johnson (2nd), Jordan Spieth (3rd), and Rory McIlroy (4th) were absent.
The COVID-19 pandemic hindered Tokyo 2020. Again, this was more true for the men’s events. 3 of the top 10 men chose not to seek qualification. Further, an additional two in the top 10 would not compete. World Number 1 Jon Rahm and Number 6 Bryson DeChambeau both tested positive prior to competition beginning.
However, the women’s events have always been strongly represented. Just one in the Top 100 ranked female golfers who qualified for Rio 2016 that did not compete. At Tokyo 2020, there were just two who qualified from the Top 100 not present. It makes Lydia Ko’s achievements all the more impressive.
Lydia Ko Run Towards the Olympics Medal Slam
It was at the inaugural appearance of women golfers at the 2016 Games in Rio that Lydia Ko would begin her run of Olympics’ success. Entering the final round, she was in 2nd place just two strokes off the lead. It would be a position she held, as Inbee Park ran away from the field to win by a margin of 5 strokes.
In between, Lydia Ko’s game suffered as she struggled to reach the lofty standards she set in the early parts of her career. She would win just one tournament between 2016 and 2021, even thinking about putting away the clubs at times.
But Lydia Ko would head to Tokyo 2020 in the hunt for another Olympics medal. She had won her first LPGA tournament earlier that year in April, and displayed some signs of a resurgence.
Entering the final round, she was in 3rd position tied with 3 other golfers. It would take her best to secure a medal. Lydia Ko shot the 2nd best round on Olympics Sunday, with her 65 sending her to a playoff for the Silver and Bronze medal with Japan’s Mone Inami. She would come up just short, adding a Bronze medal to the Silver she had won in Rio.
It was an excellent 2022 season. She won three times and regained the World Number 1 spot for the first time since 2017. 2023 would prove tougher. She won no LPGA tour events and finished in the Top 10 just twice all year.
However, by December, she won the Grant Thornton Invitational alongside Australia’s Jason Day. In January 2024, she would return to the LPGA winners circle. Taking out the the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions in Hawaii saw her just one point short of entering the LPGA Hall of Fame.
Lydia Ko Olympics Gold Cements her Immortal status
That set the scene for what we witnessed this week from Lydia Ko at the Women’s Olympics Golf in Paris 2024. After holding a 5 stroke lead at one point of the final round, she found herself defending just a solitary stroke lead down the closing stretch.
She held her nerve to secure that Gold medal she so desired. It completed an historic feat winning a medal of every colour across three consecutive Olympics.
It earned her entry into the LPGA Hall of Fame. With her Olympics Gold medal earning the final point required, Lydia Ko became the 35th and youngest to add her name to the greatest names of golf.
Make no bones about it: Lydia Ko’s achievements in the Olympics represent one of the greatest feats in all of golf.
The female fields in each of the Olympics golf events have featured the best golfers in the women’s game. To win a medal at the first three Olympics, across a time-span of 12 years, on three different golf courses, and against the strongest of opposition is an accomplishment we will likely never see repeated. It took enormous amounts of consistency, tenacity, and perseverance.
We saw when men’s World Number 1 Scottie Scheffler stood on the podium the emotion that came with the enormity of his achievements. History will be kind to winners of Olympics medals.
As her nation’s flag was raised God Defend New Zealand was played, and a Gold medal finally hung safely around her neck. She shed a tear rolling down her cheek. And there was not a dry eye at Le Golf National, nor from those watching in the early hours over in New Zealand.
Stand tall, Lydia. You are truly a golfing immortal, and one whose legacy will only grow with time.
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At the Paris 2024 Olympics Women’s Golf, we unfortunately left Lydia Ko out as the last golfer off from our 4 selections entering the week. However, Rose Zhang in 8th and Miyu Yamashita in 4th would be our best results. Yamashita shared the lead at one point during the final round, until fading over the final 9 holes.
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