Could gold medalist Lydia Ko excel at a Winter Olympic sport? ‘Couldn’t literally think of anything’

Lydia Ko will watch the Winter Olympics next month in Milan, Italy with a different eye. It’s the first time she’ll check out the Olympics after winning gold in golf in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

“t's pretty crazy. These years come by very quick. The year mark [for the Olympics was] August,” Ko said from the LPGA’s Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions. “I can't believe the Summer Olympics has already been a year and Milan is here. I grew up watching a little bit just because of Yuna Kim from Korea. She was a figure skater and had a very successful career. So that was kind of where I got into watching the Winter Olympics. But I was talking to Danielle Kang one day and we said, ‘I wonder what sport we could make it in to get into the Winter Olympics?’ We couldn't literally think of anything.

“It's obviously so different. We're all Olympians but the types of sports that compete there are so different to what we do. It honestly feels like a different world just because it is so unrelatable but relatable at the same time. I'm excited to watch a lot of the Winter Olympics coverage. We have quite a few New Zealand Olympians that have been doing well in snowboarding and definitely rooting our New Zealand athletes as well.”

The 28-year-old Ko won’t be doing any triple lutzes or snowboarding in half pipe. Luckily for golf fans Winter Olympic athletes are probably equally entertained by what she’s done on the golf course. She was inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame in 2024 (the same year she won her gold medal) and is literally right at home for the season-opening event at her home course at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club in Orlando.

Ko is still eyeing the career Grand Slam, which she could capture with a win at the U.S. Women’s Open at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif., in June. Winning four of the five majors is considered the career Grand Slam in women’s golf according to the LPGA.

She’ll be OK if she doesn’t achieve that goal when her career ends. She’s already won the Chevron Championship, AIG Women’s British Open and Amundi Evian Championship. She could win the career Grand Slam with either the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship or U.S. Women’s Open.

“I haven't played particularly well in a U.S. Women's Open,” said Ko, who has two top-10s in 14 starts at the major. “I think the only time I did really well was at CordeValle [tied for third]. It would be really nice to feel that pressure of being in contention and to say I am a U.S. Women's Open champion, that would be a dream come true.

“But I also said that I think I have nothing to prove now to anyone, to the point that just because I don't win that one, it's not going to put a dent to my career. It's just going to kind of put the cherry on top of the cake. As much as I really want it, I'm not going to make it feel like this is the end of it. It's not just white to black. There is still a lot of things I can appreciate and take from it.”

Ko’s best finish in a major last year was a tie for 12th at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

On Wednesday at Lake Nona, she talked about playing with fellow LPGA Hall of Famer Annika Sorenstam this week—who is playing in the celebrity competitions—and she greatly admires what Sorenstam has done in golf in her retirement. Ko, however, won’t follow a similar post-career playing routine.

“When I think of my retirement down the line, I don't think I'm touching my golf clubs unless I really have to,” Ko said.

Hopefully for the LPGA, Ko is far from calling it quits. She had another unbelievable season last year and is ranked sixth in the world. Last season, she won the HSBC Women’s World Championship and had five top-10s.

She’s been a wonderful ambassador for the LPGA and was one of the first five players announced to participate in the new indoor simulator league, WTGL.

“I've seen a little bit of what the men have played. It's obviously a very new and different concept,” Ko said. “I think golf has grown. Where it really used to be only a 72-hole, stroke-play format, starting with the events like the Grant Thornton Invitational and in different ways golf has really expanded.

“In a lot of countries, screen golf has really developed because they have access to play golf courses that are quite limited. So I'm excited to be part of the WTGL. Obviously, it is still a very new product only going into the second season even on the men's side, so I feel like we're kind of getting lucky in the sense of we're coming in as it's getting a bit more solidified. I've always loved team golf. Not really sure who my teammates will be, but to be in that kind of environment is always fun. To say I have three pretty awesome teammates, I think that's going to be the best part of it.”