"Our story hurts the most for ourselves"- Lydia Ko opens up about her struggles in her journey to win the Paris Olympics gold
The Paris Olympics gold medalist Lydia Ko said that her career had been full of lows, but she was proud of overcoming them each time with a high. She added that she kept telling herself to stay strong during the final stretch of the Olympics and was proud to push through.
Earlier this month, Lydia Ko won the gold medal at the Paris Olympics, beating Esther Henseleit of Germany by two strokes. This was her first win since January and her third Olympic medal.
On Saturday, August 24, during a post-round interview at the AIG Women's Open, Lydia Ko reflected on her mindset at the Olympics. She spoke about how, after every high in her career, she experienced a low phase, which was always followed by redemption.
"I feel like I've had my fair shares of ups-and-downs," she said. "I feel very fortunate about the things that have happened in my career, and I would never take anything back.
"But our story hurts the most for ourselves, and I think some of the times I got really low, I got really mentally -- I was not in a good mental space. And the way that I was able to overcome that, that's something that I that I'm really proud of, and I think that's one of the biggest things that I said to myself coming down the stretch at the Olympics is I'm just proud of just keep pushing through."
Lydia Ko in contention for the AIG Women's Open ahead of the final round
Lydia Ko carded a 1-under 71 in the third round of the AIG Women's Open, bringing her total to 4-under after 54 holes. Following the third round, she is tied for fourth and is just three strokes behind the leader, Jiyai Shin.
Ko has won 20 LPGA Tour titles in her career, but she has claimed only two majors. Her last major win came eight years ago at the ANA Inspiration. Since then, she has made nine top-10 finishes but has struggled to end her winning drought in major championships. Notably, she hasn't finished in the top 10 of any major since the AIG Women's Open in 2022.
Ko is paired with Alexa Pano for the final round of the AIG Women's Open. The duo will tee off on Sunday, August 25, at 1:55 pm local time.