Lydia Ko Wins Women's Golf Gold... First Ever 3 Consecutive Olympic Medals [Paris Olympics]

2nd Place Henzellite 2 Strokes Behind
Youngest Inductee into the Hall of Fame 'Double Celebration'

Lydia Ko (New Zealand) made history by standing on the Olympic podium for the third consecutive time.

On the 10th (local time), at the 18th hole of the 4th round of the women's individual golf event at the 2024 Paris Olympics held at Le Golf National in Guyancourt near Paris, France, Lydia Ko of New Zealand responded to the cheers of the gallery with a grateful expression after winning the gold medal with 10 under par.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

On the 10th (Korean time), Lydia Ko shot a 1-under-par 71, including 4 birdies, 1 bogey, and 1 double bogey, in the final 4th round of the women's golf event at Le Golf National (par 72) in Guyancourt, France, during the 2024 Paris Olympics.

With a final total of 10-under-par 278, Lydia Ko edged out Esther Henseleit (Germany), who scored 8-under-par 280, by 2 strokes to claim the top spot.

Thus, Lydia Ko became the first golfer in history to reach the Olympic podium three consecutive times. She won the silver medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, where golf was reinstated as an Olympic sport, and earned the bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Games.

And on this day in Paris, she topped the podium to crown her Olympic career. Additionally, with this Olympic victory, Lydia Ko earned 1 point needed for Hall of Fame induction, bringing her total to 27 points, and proudly secured her place in the Hall of Fame at the age of 27 years and 3 months.

Earlier, Lydia Ko had won the opening event of the 2024 LPGA Tour season in January, earning 26 of the 27 points required for Hall of Fame induction.

On the 10th (local time), Lydia Ko of New Zealand took the final tee shot on the 18th hole of the 4th round of the women's individual golf event at the 2024 Paris Olympics, held at Le Golf National in Guyancourt near Paris, France.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

However, she had not added any further wins, delaying her Hall of Fame entry. The LPGA awards 1 point each for regular tournament wins, Player of the Year, lowest scoring average, and Olympic gold medals, and 2 points for major championship wins.

But by winning the Olympic gold, she earned 1 Hall of Fame point and secured her induction. She also broke the record for the youngest Hall of Fame inductee previously set by Inbee Park in 2016 at 27 years and 10 months.

After sharing the lead the previous day, Lydia Ko had a shaky start with a bogey on the 1st hole (par 4). However, she quickly regrouped and made up a stroke with a birdie on the 3rd hole (par 5). She then added birdies on the 7th hole (par 4) and 9th hole (par 5), extending her lead over the second place.

Playing steadily, Lydia Ko suffered a double bogey on the 13th hole (par 4) when her second shot landed in the water. Losing 2 strokes, she allowed Germany's Henseleit to close the gap to 1 stroke. Nevertheless, Ko maintained steady play over the remaining 4 holes to hold onto the lead.

She sealed her victory with a birdie on the final 18th hole (par 5) and celebrated with tears of joy.

Meanwhile, among Korean players, Hee Young Yang finished tied for 4th place with a final total of 6-under-par 282, the highest ranking among them. The bronze medal went to Lin Xiyu (China) with 7-under-par.

Ko Jin Young (29, Solaire) and Kim Hyo Joo (29, Lotte), who participated in their second consecutive Olympics following the 2020 Tokyo Games, both shot 3-under-par 69 on the final day and finished tied for 25th place with an even-par 288 total.