Golden Data
The moment Nelly Korda's heart rate was highest en route to her Olympic gold medal wasn't the moment you'd expect
Mike Ehrmann
Nelly Korda doesn’t tend to give much away. Although intense on the course, she's not one to show an abundance of emotion during a tournament round. Even when she wins—six times now on the LPGA Tour, along with an Olympic gold in Tokyo—Korda's celebrations are reserved in comparison to other champs.
But that doesn’t mean she’s not feeling the moment. The data from Korda's fitness band, WHOOP, shows just how much winning a gold medal at the Olympics meant to her.
The band, which Korda wears all day, on-course and while sleeping, measure'sher heart rate, strain and recovery. WHOOP pulled the data from the Olympics and found that the highest Korda's heart rate spiked in the final round wasn’t when she hit the winning putt, or when she made double on No. 7 to lose the outright lead and slip into a three-way tie. Instead, the moment that Korda’s heart was beating fastest was when she was on the Olympic podium, getting her gold medal.
Throughout the final round, the highest her heart rate got was 154 beats per minute, which is in line with her average max heart rate this season, 155 beats per minute. While on the podium, meanwhile, her heart rate hit 172 beats per minute.
Korda may not throw the biggest fist pumps when she wins, but looking at her heart rate climb when she gets her medal shows how much she felt the victory.