. South Korea's Inbee Park deservedly won the gold medal, followed by New Zealand's Lydia Ko and China's Shanshan Feng, who took silver and bronze respectively.

Azahara Muñoz and Carlota Ciganda have concluded their first Olympic experience in 21st and 39th place, a historic event for both of them as well as for the rest of the 58 players in this competition held in Rio de Janeiro, who have made up the first participation of women's golf in an Olympic event.

The best save of this historic experience has been the Korean Inbee Park, deserving of the gold medal after exhibiting that methodical but tremendously effective game that has led her to dominate the tournament almost from beginning to end after convincingly acquiring the lead in the second day.

A final round of 66 strokes for a total of 268 proved an insurmountable wall for all her rivals, including New Zealander Lydia Ko and China's Shanshan Feng, who won the silver and bronze medals after accumulating 273 and 274 strokes, respectively.

A decisive birdie by Lydia Ko on the last hole earned her the silver medal in a round where the Russian Maria Verchenova also shone with particular intensity, author of a 9 under par card full of successes, including a hole in 1 on the par of the 4th hole.

The Spanish participation generated great expectations after the first day, when Carlota Ciganda and Azahara Muñoz briefly led the tournament simultaneously after a spectacular start. However, the fourth and seventh places they achieved then proved impossible to hold onto, despite their repeated efforts to improve their performance in the following three rounds, where mistakes outweighed successes.

Azahara Muñoz, with a more consistent overall performance, making few mistakes but also creating few birdie opportunities, displayed in the final round the grit and quality that characterized her first round, which ended with a promising 2 under par that at one point put her one stroke away from the bronze medal and, in a

longer time period, in the Olympic diploma zone.

However, a double bogey on the 13th hole and two consecutive bogeys on the 15th and 16th – a final straight where he had scraped strokes off the course in previous days – barely compensated by a birdie on the 17th, took his card over par, 72 strokes that led him to the twenty-first final place.

Carlota Ciganda, for her part, displayed two completely opposite sides: a brilliant first day, displaying the game that has taken her to the top, and three subsequent rounds where two beginnings full of deep difficulties marked her destiny.

That misfortune repeated itself on the final day when, after completing the fourth hole, he was once again 4 over par. He fought hard and tried his best. In fact, he didn't record any more bogeys on his scorecard, but the burden was too heavy to significantly improve on his final 39th place finish.

Both of them, however, have a unique experience, the awareness of the brilliant work done over many years to get here, a task that will surely continue and that has already been rewarded with a place in the annals of Spanish sport history: the first golfers to participate in the Olympic Games.

FINAL CLASSIFICATION

1.- Inbee Park (KOR) 268 (66+66+70+66) GOLD MEDAL

2.- Lydia Ko (NZE) 273 (69+70+65+69) SILVER MEDAL

3.- Shanshan Feng (CHI) 274 (69+67+68+69) BRONZE MEDAL

21.- Azahara Muñoz (ESP) 282 (68+69+73+72)

39.- Carlota Ciganda (ESP) 290 (67+72+78+73)

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