2024 Olympics: Lydia Ko punches HOF ticket after spectacular gold victory

Lydia Ko could not hold back her tears of joy as she sank her birdie putt on the 18th hole on Saturday at Le Golf National in Paris, France. That birdie secured her the Gold Medal in women’s golf at the 2024 Olympics.

Ko now has a bronze medal from the 2021 Tokyo Games, a silver medal from the 2016 Rio Games, and a gold medal from the 2024 Paris Games.

“That’s why I deleted my Instagram. I didn’t want to be fazed by what other people were saying and enjoy this opportunity because this experience has been unbelievable, and the fans have been great,” Ko said. “It’s a life peak for me here. I don’t think I’ve experienced this adrenaline before, and to do it here, it really can’t get any better.”

She is the first male or female golfer to win three medals in the modern Games.

On Saturday, the 27-year-old carded a 1-under 71 to post a 10-under overall and win by two strokes.

She came into Saturday tied for the lead with Switzerland’s Morgane Metraux and explained how a younger version of herself would not have been as steady.

“I think when I was younger, I would have been, ‘Oh, man, everyone is trying to catch me.’ So get almost more pressure from that,” Ko said. “I tried to think of, ‘Hey, I get two free shots over some of the other players, and you know, they don’t come for free.’ I wanted to have that as a cushion but also focus on my game.”

The 20-time LPGA winner stayed focused and completed her goal.

Photo by EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP via Getty Images

“It’s one of the things I’m most proud of. I stuck to my game plan and stuck to being aggressive off the tee,” she said. “That’s something I’ve been struggling with and been working hard on with my coaches. For it to progressively get better these past couple of months and hit its peak here at the Olympics, it doesn’t get better than this. To be holding and wearing this Gold Medal, it’s pretty crazy right now.”

Ko started her day with a bogey on the opening hole but quickly recovered with a birdie on the 3rd and 7th.

With her third birdie of the day, she extended her lead to four shots at No. 9.

A double bogey on the par-4 13th brought the lead to three.

Ko made four straight pars to get to the 18th hole and eventually made a seven-footer for birdie to win by two shots.

After her putt dropped, the crowd went wild for Ko. She became emotional as it all began to sink in for her.

It felt kind of like fate and her own Cinderella story.

“Cinderella’s glass slippers are see-through, and my podium shoes are also see-through,” she noted. “I feel like I’m part of this story tale. Going into this week, everyone was saying, ‘Oh, what if you finish and collect all the Gold on top of the Silver and Bronze you have.’ Of course, I want to do that and complete it, too, but it’s much easier said than done.”

Joining her on the podium was Germany’s Esther Henseliet for Silver and China’s Xiyu Lin, who won the Bronze.

Photo by EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP via Getty Images

Her performance also gave her the final point to enter the LPGA Hall of Fame.

To achieve this honor, a player must earn 27 points through LPGA wins, majors, Olympic medals, the Vare Trophy and Player of the Year awards.

Ko won the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions in January, giving her 26 points.

“To win the first event of the year at my home club at Lake Nona took the pressure off, and I knew that if I worked on the right things, one tournament could happen at any point,” she noted. “Did I imagine that I was going to do it at the Paris Olympics? Probably not. But this is the coolest way to do it.”

Now, she is the 35th LPGA Hall of Fame member and the youngest under the current criteria. Ko became the first New Zealand golfer in the Hall of Fame and is the latest active player to get the points. Inbee Park was the last to do so in 2016.

After Ko watched Simone Biles’ documentary Thursday night, she chose one of the gymnast’s quotes, “I get to write my own ending.”

Ko wrote the perfect mantra in her yardage book and eventually completed her Olympic trifecta.

Sometimes, all one needs is a little confidence and a Simone Biles quote to get the job done—for Ko, this resulted in a Gold medal and a Hall of Fame spot.

Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @golf_girl_sl.