Lydia Ko aims to represent New Zealand in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics
The world number one amateur Lydia Ko aims to represent New Zealand in 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, when the sport of golf will make its return in the summer Games after more than a century.
Ko has become one of the most loved people in the country because of her great performances at the age of just 15 years. She is moving on a path where she has records in her way and she kicks them off whenever she wants.
This year, she made her debut in the major championships through the US Women’s Open and took the leading amateur status at the end of the tournament.
Moreover, she won the NSW Open in January and became the youngest player ever – then 14 – to win a pro event.
Recently, she won the US women’s Amateur Championship held last week and became the only Kiwi player to record a victory in the event.
She followed the footsteps of Danny Lee who did the same in 2008 in men’s event. He currently holds the record of being the youngest player ever to take the title home.
Gregg Thorpe, New Zealand Golf's high performance manager, believes that Ko has all that it takes to be a gold medallist in Olympics.
She has stunned her opponents in the past and definitely has the potential to do the same in future. The only need is to remain consistent and focus on playing her natural game.
“If you follow the current performance pathway that Lydia is on, where she has proven to be very consistent on the international stage at such a young age, then it suggests that she will be very competitive in Rio and certainly a chance at a medal," he said.
After her victory last week, Ko told that she was eyeing a place into next summer Games and make her country proud with a similar performance that she gave in the past few months.
"One of my main goals in the next few years is building towards the 2016 Olympics in Rio," Ko said. "I would love to represent New Zealand at the Olympics. Hopefully in four years' time my game has improved and I am in a good position to compete for a place
in the team and maybe even contend for a medal”.
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