Victoria Lovelady Extra Time

Now on BBC News - it's time for HARDtalk: Extra Time.

Welcome. I am Rob Bonnet. My guest today is a rarity.

Victoria Lovelady, a golfer from a country where the game itself

Lovelady is not only an ambassador for the Rio Olympics but also

for a sport which has returned to the Games after an absence

But, with many of the world's top male golfers withdrawing from Rio,

will the return of the event to the games be short lived?

Victoria Lovelady, welcome. You have only just qualified for your home

Olympics. The tournament only had 60 places. What is the story? I just

qualified. I had... The planning that I had done for the last year

and I decided my last tournament was in the Czech republic and a

calculated in a way that that was the limit of tournaments I could

play before July 11 and after that we had the US Open. One week before

the US Open I was qualified... In the top 60. But then, an American

player had played really well, a friend of mine, and she brought me

down to 61st. Still a friend? LAUGHTER Still a friend. I was able

to become the 59th player after the federation had two places. I was

raised as a child in Rio and it has a very special meaning to me so I am

extremely happy I am able to play. You must have spent some anxious

weeks? You think a lot and in the end you have to wait. There was

nothing you could do... There was nothing I could do so I had to relax

and wait. Did you find yourself constantly on the phone and

constantly looking at the rankings? Oh, yes. I did sleep. I was waiting

for the phone call from the resilient federation and I got it

and it was great news. What did you do? I just started like shouting.

Just like party time. It means so much to you? Oh, it does. It does.

For the last year there was not one day that someone did not ask me

about the Olympics. Being Brazilian, playing golf, after more than 100

years when golfers not been back into the Olympics, it it was tough.

Another Brazilian had qualified already. She was sure of a place

before you and that was a place she was entitled because she was a

representative of her home country, nevertheless she has represented

Germany before so there was an issue as to whether that was appropriate.

I wonder if he remained friends with her? I have known her for a long

time and we played in the US together before the European tour.

It was a big surprise for me that she became a Brazilian. She was born

in Brazil say she had all the rights to become Brazilian. For me it was

the first time I actually faced domestic competition, let's put it

this way, and it was great because I have not improved so much ever

before so it was a healthy competition. We are good friends and

I very happy we are going to have two Brazilians. Nevertheless, she

had represented Germany before. Is it appropriate that a player can

switch because she would not have been able to qualify as a German. In

the Olympics you see it all the time. A bit of a flag of

convenience, is that what you are saying? If I put myself in her

shoes, would I have done the same? Maybe, I do not know. It is hard to

judge. I know Brazil is the two are part and it's a passion she has for

the country so why not stop several men are not even attending the Rio

Olympics. The world's top four are not going, several others decide,

most are saying to health issues and that is a reference to the Zika

virus which has been affecting your country. How do you feel about that?

With the men, for me it is a little bit disappointing that, for the

first time gold is coming back, and they are not going to be supporting

the sport... It is a bit more than disappointing, it is kick in the

teeth to Brazil and two golf? It is a little bit, however I understand

two things about their arguments - one is about the Zika virus. All

right, that is what they are using as an excuse... World, you have to,

you know, have a certain percentage of concern but I understand that

there schedule is really tight and they have two important tournaments

won before the Olympics and one week after the Olympics. That has nothing

to do with the Zika virus? Well, some players are just saying they do

not want to fly to Brazil and come back to play, you know, back in the

US. Maybe they should be straightforward in saying that. I

believe so. However, I also understand that someone who was not

raised in a tropical country, that has mosquitoes that that transmit

diseases, how they can be scanned with all the bad media or the

emphasis the media has put on the Zika virus. But neither you nor the

rest of the women's field seem to be concerned, bar one. I think our

passion as women golfers... When you consider the disparity of the

prizes, the person is, with men's tournaments and women's tournaments,

the drive that we have for passion is evident, you know, compared to

some arguments that the guys make. OK, I am not willing to go to play

for a small post but we are willing and I hope that can change that

makes LAUGHTER That is what it was down to, it is down to money and the

Zika is just a single. I think it fell conveniently to them to use

Zika as an excuse. Some are being blunt about it, I respected that.

However, I do respect as well the fear due to the magnitude of the

emphasis, in a negative way, that has been targeting Zika. There is

potentially a long-term issue here. We know golf is in for 2016 and in

Tokyo 2020. It is provisional. If this is seen as a failure through

the men's tournament, will it be hard to keep golf that? I understand

that. I hope it does not happen. That is the thing, the media is

focusing in the negative aspect of it but we are not considering the

great golfers that are coming. I was in an event with Herrington and

Martin Kime and they are one of the top golfers --2 of the top golfers.

I still believe there is a great level of golf being played in the

men's event... And Lydia Ko, the world 's 11, says the Olympics are

her top priority. -- the world 's number one. If they decide the golf

event for men has been a failure across two Olympic Games by the

women's game has benefited from it and maybe highlighted in 2016, 2020,

there would be a case for retaining the women's event and dropping the

men's event. Normally the ISC would want both sexes to be represented.

How would you feel about that? I OK with that. I think we are all OK

with that as girls. You said that has been too much publicity about

Zika is make yes, I remember in the beginning of the year I was in

Australia and almost every night you had news about the Zika virus. I do

not know if this happened to previous host countries for the

Olympics so maybe I think that was why it was such a hot topic but the

little information that we have on the Zika virus is not giving people

enough confidence. However, as in Brazil, we're not going to stop

allies because the Zika virus. You can protect yourself with repellent.

During the Olympics it is not the mosquito season so the mosquitoes

are not going to be going crazy in the golf course or the arenas...

That have been plenty of advisories about how people should protect

themselves. Over 100 ROM and it DRS wrote a letter to the WHO. -- 100

prominent doctors. A Canadian professor said in a telephone

interview that if the IOC and WHO do not the generosity of hard to

prevent children being born disabled, they are amongst the

cruellest institutions in the world. That is a tough quote. It is.

Equally there have been cause of trying to put the dangers of Zika in

perspective. You're not dismissive but you think it is a risk worth

taking. Yes, and as I said, I was talking to a friend of mine who is a

doctor and Zika has been one of her research topics and she mentioned

that the virus could stay only one month in your body. I think people

are being extra careful. You have to take care of yourself if you get

bitten, for two years. I think everybody needs to be careful. After

I play the Olympics in Riau, I would like to get text of deceit if I have

the Zika virus and take the right measures not to cause any problems.

However the chances of it happening is a really small. I was on the golf

course in March when it was warm weather and I did not see any

mosquitoes and did not get bitten once so now the credibility of that

happening is even less so... I would like to talk about the golf course

in just a moment. But briefly, I would like to touch on the social,

political and economic issue and the perception that crime in Rio is not

necessarily out of control but very strong issue. How might that affect

the Olympic experience as Mac I cannot discard that these realities

in our country but, again, I have been born into that reality and

raised in that reality. In Rio, you see clearly, the disparity between

rich and poor. A wealthy neighbourhood, a poor neighbourhood.

And you have to be careful. There are areas in Rio you cannot go.

There are people who do two wars in the favelas, which is our shanty

towns, why put yourself in that situation? I would not go. You know

what I mean, I would not go and take a tour so why do people do that? It

is safe, even the dangers of guys like it because it brings kudos to

their neighbourhood. -- dangerous. But why put yourself in that

situation? The Olympic experience, for the

athletes and fans, isn't just about sitting in the stadium and watching,

it is about seeing a bit of the city and maybe the country beyond. In

that sense maybe the real Olympics will be diminished little bit. Rio

is an amazing city. For me, it is the most beautiful beach town that

it could ever be in. Well, it looks great on a postcard. It does. As I

say, it's a 9 million people city. A big city. Bigger than the Swedish

population! By two have to be careful. Like in Los Angeles, you

shouldn't go to Southampton. You shouldn't go to downtown LA at three

in the morning by yourself. So everybody has to be careful. Whoever

goes to the sites, just go, it is amazing. Nobody will be able to

resist a walk along Copacabana. But you have to be careful. Don't flush

eyes on like this. Don't leave your wallet in your pocket sticking out.

These are measures where if you are coming to really have to take. Let's

talk about you and golf and I suppose my perception that we still

is of course known for football and there you are, a young girl, who may

have watched Brazilian heroes playing football, but how did you

get into golf? Which certainly Brazil is not known for. There are

15,000 players? Something like that? Right. My great grandfather was one

of the founding members of a club, that is one of the first golf clubs

in Rio and also in the country. When my dad picked up golf, he passed it

on to me. In Brazil if your family... If you don't have that

family tradition of golf it is really hard to start. Now I will

think like in the past five years the access has been greater. But it

is known as a game for the privileged few to wrap the world,

but especially in Brazil. Yes. I am very blessed that I had the chance

to be in contact with golf, because golf has opened so many doors for me

in my life. Even when it comes to education, I was able to get a

scholarship playing golf in the United States. So I was very lucky

that I have that access. What are your friends think about that? They

might have been curious. They are really mad at me because many times

I had to say, no, I'm not going to that party because I have a

tournament. Or, no, I'm not travelling with ten friends to the

beach house because, you know, I have a tournament, I have to

practise. Or I have to leave the country because I need to invest in

my golf and I have -- leave the country when I was 16, in the

highlight of my teenage life in a sense. Exactly. You missed all the

joys of teenage life. Well, I had a very good time, I can say. But it

was sad to see your friends having a great time back home and you are

there playing golf, you are focused and thinking about your future and

being responsible in a way to build a future for yourself. At what point

did you realise you are going to make a living out of golf? To be

honest, my drive has always been more for the passion of the game. I

didn't think much about the consequences of it. Being a female

athlete, also being a female also, in the beginning everything is small

so it takes a lot of investment and I was lucky enough that I had that,

the means to start my career. This is my third year in the European

Tour and my third year where I was able to be independent as a human

being, in a sense, and be able to start to make a living out of golf.

So you have several ambitions, no doubt, left for the game and the

first one is to win Olympic gold, which is by no means impossible.

Anything can happen. Exactly. In the world rankings you are down in 400

somewhere. What are you looking for? Top 50? Of course. I had a slow

start and even from the beginning of last year I wasn't even ranked. So I

am very proud of myself, that I was able to move more than 500 positions

in one year and I am excited. I am excited for my next goal is, to be

in the tour where the best players are. Golf is nearly constructed and

there have been serious concerns about building a golf course there,

environmentally. Are you constable that there has been little or no

environmental damage? -- comfortable. Because there are

alternatives. Yes, we had... It was interesting. The beginning of the

building of the golf course, a complex that they had even with land

owners and the state, it was a bit of a mess. -- conflicts. However,

the design they developed, it is harmonic and organic to the area.

But there has been a protesting movement. Actually, and when we had

our test event, there were some protesters there. Did you make an

impact? No, but I understand. We are country with the Amazon forest, we

have a responsibility. Anything that can cause any damage is very

worrisome. Would you expect protest during the Olympics themselves? I

don't know, to be honest. I just try to gauge the sense of feeling about

it. I have no idea. The thing with Brazilians... When there is time to

get together and have a good time, which is definitely going to be the

call for the Olympics, people kind of tend to forget about things and

the joy of the Brazilian culture takes over and everyone is going to

want to have a good time. So I truly believe when the game starts, even

what happens to the work up, we are going through some sensitive moments

as a Brazilian... Not wise to mention the performance of the

Brazilian team at the last World Cup. I totally forgot about that. I

don't even know what happened on the last day. Conveniently forgot. Let's

talk about the conditions on the golf course. It is a proper test. It

is amazing. I was extremely surprised with the maintenance of

the golf course and the design and how visually it's kind of played its

strategic fears in new, in a sense. But it's an amazing cause. I think

they got the best grass for it. The area takes a salty water, which is

great, we're not using fresh water. Important is whether or not it will

provide a legacy. It needs to therefore be accessible to the

public. Yes. I believe so and I really hope so. I really hope the

people who will take over have that responsibility as their priority, to

keep golf, especially their course, open to the public, with access in

terms of the value of play, how much they will be paid to play, how much

they will be paid to rent equipment, people who don't have equipment. So

I hope they are held to a very high standard when it comes to that. The

interesting thing about it will be the first public course in Brazil

and there is a big residential area behind it. The curious eyes will

start looking at it and say, hey, I can go and play and I don't need to

be invited by a member to comment play. So it's a huge thing. You

remain optimistic than four golf at the Rio Olympics and beyond? Because

that is the important thing as far as the golf community is concerned.

Oh, yes, definitely. Victoria Lovelady, thank you for joining us

on ExtraTime. Thank you. This time last week

we were enjoying, or should that be