Lydia Ko just finished his Olympic collection

08/13/2024 08:51 PM

The Olympic discipline of golf ends at Le Golf National without medals for the Spanish delegation. After Jon Rahm's disappointment in the men's category, Carlota Ciganda and Azahara Muñoz are far from the medals after four rounds in which they have not managed to get their best level. Gold went to New Zealander Lydia Ko, who finished her score at -10 over par. Completing the podium, German Esther Henseleit with -8 takes silver and Chinese Xiju Janet Lin bronze with -7. With this gold, Lydia manages to have on her list of achievements the three different medals that can be won at the Olympic Games after the bronze in Tokyo and the silver in Rio de Janeiro. Malaga's Azahara had a first day where she made a lot of mistakes, she improved in the following rounds, but not enough to touch the podium. She came close to the Olympic diploma, just two strokes away and has been left out of the top eight. For her part, Pamplona native Carlota Ciganda was unable to overcome the bad feelings of the first day and has plummeted to 49th position with a final +13 over par.

Azahara Muñoz finished the last round with another -3, equalling the score of the two previous days with 69 strokes. With 14 holes under par, she completed a very solid round, almost without errors, although without great successes either. Four birdies and a bogey complete her journey through the Parisian circuit. The poor round of the first day deprived her of getting into the top eight and getting that precious Olympic diploma, which would have been a great success for the 133rd in the world golf ranking. In statements to the social networks of the Royal Spanish Golf Federation, she summarised her Olympic participation: “After the result I had on Wednesday, I am super proud of the comeback I have made by playing spectacular golf every week. Only a couple of bad shots on Wednesday penalised me a lot, but I'll stick with that. I am very happy.” Regarding being close to the diploma, she says, “it saddens me, but I don’t want to look at it like that.”

Carlota Ciganda has not had the Olympic Games she dreamed of when she qualified for Paris. From the first day of competition she did not start well and did not get the difficult task. She finished over par (+1, +6, +3 and +3 respectively) on all four days. In total, +13 which puts her in 49th place. Carlota Ciganda is satisfied with having been able to represent Spain, which is an “honour”, as she said for the Royal Spanish Golf Federation. “I am sorry to have played so badly, but it is golf and the experience of the event has been good,” she acknowledged. And regarding her Olympic participation in general and what it is like to be in Paris: “Off the course we had a good time and then seeing Spain win all the medals and all the tournaments in which they have competed, especially in teams that have done very well.”

The participation of the Spanish golfers in Paris 24 is disappointing. At Le Golf National, the Spanish flag will not be raised on any podium. After the disaster of “Rahmbo” in the last holes, the two girls representing Spain have not managed to improve their situation. Looking ahead to Los Angeles 2028, the outlook is positive, although the lack of resolution of the small details on day “x” and moment “y” have taken a heavy toll on both Rahm and Azahara, who have come close to winning an Olympic medal or diploma respectively.