Shannon Tan made history by becoming the first female Singaporean golfer to qualify for the Olympic Games at Paris 2024. The 20-year-old is playing in her debut season on the LET and earlier this year made history by becoming the first golfer to win on her first LET start. Her win in Kenya was pivotal to her qualification and Tan reveals other key moments in her journey to the Olympics in Episode 7 of “Pathway to Paris.”
Shannon said: “It definitely means a lot to be Singapore’s first Olympic golfer. It’s a great honour to represent your country at the Olympics. It’s the biggest sporting stage out there. Every athlete dreams of it. It’s going to be a big honour.
The reaction back home has been really good. A lot of people have been really supportive and my phone was going off on the Tuesday after it officially became official. That was really good to see and to know that people back home are supporting what you’re doing out there.
I’d hope I’m inspiring the next generation. I just want golf to get popular back home in Singapore. I feel like it’s a good place to start, when you have an Olympian in that sport. So it will be really good to see the sport you love grow back home. To see more junior golfers and players trying out the sport. That would be really nice.
I’m very excited about being there. I’m going to treat it how I treat every other event. I’ll take it one step at a time. But I think the experience will be really cool. I saw my coach last month and got some stuff sorted out. That was good. This whole year I’ve been playing in a lot of competitions on the LET. It’s been really good for me.
Georgia Hall was my hero growing up. I like her on and off the course. I really admire how she is in terms of her personality. She’s really mellow and really calm, and I think that’s how I am. I’m mellow and calm too. She treats a tough situation like it’s not really tough. She goes with the flow and I really admire that. She’s of course a really good golfer too. She’s my idol. I’ve watched a lot of Lydia Ko and Nelly Korda too. I’ve watched a lot of golf! It will be cool to rub shoulders with them in France. I will be really starstruck. I’ve met Georgia before but I’m sure I’ll stll be starstruck.
My expectations for myself are to just take it one shot at a time. I feel like that’s what is best for me. To stay in the moment and just focus on that one shot ahead of rather than getting too far ahead and overthinking things. If I hit a bad shot, move on. Stay in the present. That’s my overall goals.
Golf only came to the Olympics in 2016, and I didn’t watch that one because I had a major exam back in Singapore the same year. So I didn’t get the chance to watch much. But I’ve watched a lot of track and field because I used to do a lot of running growing up. 800m was my distance and what I would watch.
I looked up to Michael Phelps. He’s probably the best Olympian out there. My most recent memory was our swimmer back home, Joseph Schooling, beating Michael Phelps to win Singapore’s first medal. That was my most impactful memory. It would mean a lot to do the same. Swimming has got a lot more popular because of him and because of that. I feel like it would be great for golf back home if I could medal.”
