The women’s golf competition at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 gets underway on Sunday (June 7).
The competition will be held at Le Golf Nacional (par 72, 6,374 yards) in Guiancourt, near Paris, France, where the men’s competition concluded on Thursday.
The men’s event was held on a par-71 course, but the women’s event will be played on a par-5 18th hole.
South Korea will be represented by world No. 3 Ko Jin-young (29), No. 4 Yang Hee-young (35) and No. 12 Kim Hyo-joo (29).
South Korea’s women’s golf team won gold at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games with Park In-bee, but failed to make the medal stand at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
In particular, fans were disappointed that the then world No. 2 Ko Jin-young, No. 3 Park In-bee, No. 4 Kim Se-young, and No. 6 Kim Hyo-joo failed to medal in Tokyo 2021.
This time around, the field has been reduced to three players and the world rankings are not as overwhelming as they were in Tokyo, but golf is a game of many variables, so a gold medal is still a possibility.
The eldest, Yang Hee-young, is the favorite after winning the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in June to dramatically qualify for the Olympics.
Ko Jin-young and Kim Hyo-joo will also be looking to win a medal at their second consecutive Olympics after Tokyo 2021.
They arrived in France on Wednesday and began acclimatization training on the course for the first time on Thursday, and will play an 18-hole practice round on Friday, the day after the men’s competition concludes.
“Wearing the clothes that represent my country makes me feel like I’m really at the Olympics, and I’m determined to prepare thoroughly,” Yang said.
Ko Jin-young also started her first round by saying, “In Tokyo, I didn’t feel the realization (of the Olympics) because of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), but here there are a lot of gallery people, so I want to do better.”
“I hope all three of us do well and go home with a medal around our necks,” Kim Hyo-joo said, predicting a “medal sweep” for South Korean athletes.
On the 4th, 2016 gold medalist Park In-bee visited the stadium to meet the athletes and cheer them on.
World No. 1 and 2021 Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Nelly Korda (USA) is the favorite to win the women’s golf event, which will feature 60 golfers.
Yuka Saso (JPN), who won a major this year, and world No. 2 Lilia Boo (USA) are also in contention for gold.
Korean-Americans Lydia Ko (NZL) and Lee Min-Ji (AUS) are also expected to threaten the podium. 파워볼게임