Lydia Ko, born in Seoul on April 24, 1997, is a New Zealand golfer of South Korean descent.

She became No. 1 in the world rankings on February 2, 2015 at the age of 17 years 9 months and 8 days, making her the youngest male or female golfer to reach the top ranking. With her win of the Evian Championship on September 13, 2015 she also became the youngest female winner of a major competition, aged 18 years, 4 months and 20 days. In her career she boasts 14 titles on the LPGA Tour, two majors, a silver medal in the individual at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games and a bronze, again in the individual, at the Tokyo 2020 Games.

She takes part in the women's golf tournament of the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games, held from 17 to 20 August at the Reserva de Marapendi golf course, in the Barra da Tijuca area. Among the favorites to win, she starts the competition below expectations with 69 strokes (-2 on par) after the first round of the tournament, which places her in eleventh place.

The same scenario is repeated in the second round, with the Ko which is placed in twenty-second place, five strokes away from the medal zone. In the last two days she scores a decisive recovery, finishing the race in second place and thus winning the silver medal.

She also came close to success at the following Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where on August 7 she won the bronze medal on the Kasumigaseki Country Club in Kawagoe, closing the competition with 268 strokes, 16 under par. Late after the first two laps, closed 8 strokes from Nelly Korda who will win the gold, in the final two laps she recovers many positions, closes just one stroke away from the winner and is paired with the landlady Mone Inami, who prevails in the final playoff and wins silver.