Retired golf star Annika Sorenstam said on Tuesday that she was saddened by the “dark day” after the US Capitol invasion despite the controversial acceptance of a presidential medal of freedom from Donald Trump.
The 50-year-old Swedish star won ten major titles and 72 events in total during an epic LPGA career that ended in 2008 and plays this week as a celebrity in the LPGA season opening of the Champions of Florida in Florida.
In interviews with The Golf Channel and Golfweek, Sorenstam said she did not regret receiving the award from Trump on January 7, a day after he spoke to protesters who became a rebel force by breaking into the US capital in what she said to the Golf Channel was “a dark day in American history.”
“When I look back, I do not guess. I like to look forward, not to spend energy on what could have been,” said Sorenstam. “It’s about opening doors. That’s one thing I’ve learned.
“I’ve heard from many people – you can imagine, many opinions, many comments. I hear clearly what they say. I know they see it differently. But I listen and embrace them all.”
Hours after the nightmarish scene in which five people died, Sorenstam and South African legend Gary Player accepted the award and Babe Didrikson Zaharias was posthumously honored in a White House ceremony with golf fan Trump closed to the media.
“Listen, I share grief and fear with everyone, what happened at the Capitol, but I’m not one to look back,” Sorenstam told Golfweek.
New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick refused to accept the award last week due to the US Capitol invasion.
Sorenstam said she followed up on her commitment to accept the award, the country’s highest civilian honor, after it was first announced in March last year. The ceremony was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It would be in March 2020, and when you look back on it, it’s just about the people who’ve gotten it through history,” Sorenstam told Golf Channel.
“I do not want to spend energy looking back, I like to spend energy looking ahead, continuing to open doors, creating opportunities for young girls around the world.”
Sorenstam, president of the International Golf Federation, is the only woman to shoot 59 in an LPGA event. She said she understands her critics but intends to move on.
“You can imagine the range of emotions and comments,” Sorenstam told Golfweek. “I clearly hear those who see it differently.”
Source: sn.dk