Lydia Ko wins silver and gets to meet Richie

OLYMPICS – With an Olympic silver medal dangling around her neck, Lydia Ko’s other big wish came true.

The world’s No. 1 woman golfer finally got her meeting with former All Blacks captain Richie McCaw at Kiwi House in Rio, a few hours after finishing runner-up to Korea’s Inbee Park in the Olympic women’s golf competition.

Like most Kiwi girls, Ko has long been a fan of McCaw who was in Rio to watch his hockey-playing fiancee Gemma Flynn – and was startled to learn he was in the gallery for the front nine of her opening round of the Olympic tournament.

“I’d always said, when I play the New Zealand Open, ‘hey is Richie McCaw going to come out and watch? I’d love to meet him’,” she said last week.

The Olympics were always about more than winning a medal for 19-year-old Ko.

For the globetrotting Korea-born golfing prodigy, they were also a chance to reconnect with her New Zealand roots and a wide range of elite Kiwi athletes she rarely sees.

“Because I don’t live in New Zealand right now, and I don’t go back home that often, there’s not many times when I can cross paths with other New Zealand athletes,” she said.

“That was one of the greatest things I was really excited about this week.”

“To see him out here, to come and support me, I think that’s been amazing.”

Ko aced the par-three eighth hole on her way to a six-under round of 65 to head into the final round in a share of second, two shots off leader Inbee Park of Korea.

Lydia Ko had a hole-in-one and four birdies on the front nine to surge to a tie for second in the third round in Rio.

Ko had started the day seven shots off the pace after opening rounds of 69 and 70 left her in a share of 22nd.

“I made my first ever hole-in-one and for it to be at the Olympics, it doesn’t get much better than that,” she said.

“I almost didn’t know how to react. I mean it is your first one, the wind is blowing, and I haven’t had the best luck with hole-in-ones. I had two big chances, but they just decided not to go in.

“I would have loved to have done a dance or jumped up and down but in that situation I was almost about to cry.”