Lydia Glenn

News Editor

lmg5921@psu.edu

Madelene Sagstrom who is ranked 42 in the LPGA recently came forward with her sexual abuse story. 

According to USA today, who reported on the story on January 25, Sagstrom had been sexually abused by a male friend in her native country of Sweden.

Sagstrom wanted to speak out in the issue of sexual assault and abuse because she wanted to be a role model for others. She wrote, “If I touch one life by telling my story, it will all be worth it.” 

Sagstrom reported that her decision to open up to her mentor and longtime friend, Robert Karlsson, a professional golfer, was about healing. She wanted to learn not to “hate” herself and also wanted to end the cycle of acting like nothing happened before breaking down in tears when alone. 

When her story first went public, she wrote, “I despised my body. I hurt myself mentally ans physically. I didn’t know what was wrong with me. That secret haunted me. It haunted me until I could no longer escape it. And the pain showed up in every aspect of my life, especially on the golf course.” 

After she told her story, her professional career on the golf course started to turn around. She won three times on the Symetra Tour. Then she was named the tour’s Rookie of the Year and Player of the year in 2016. The next season, she joined the LPGA Tour.

Sagstrom really started to break out in 2020 when she won the Gainbridge and was ranked number 61 in the world. 

After COVID threw everything off, including her game, she once again came back this year, and stronger than ever. 

She overcame the struggle of the pandemic and the emotions and weight of telling her sexual assault story. 

She placed second in the Women’s British Open in August 2021. This win propelled her to number 42 in the world. 

Sagstrom has followed other sex abuse stories, mainly those of the USA Gymnastics team. She has made it her mission to encourage and support women that come forward and share their stories like she has. 

In a recent Twitter post she tweeted, “This is my story. How I’ve handled trauma and grown into the person I am today. How I’ve changed the way I view myself and see my own worth. If you feel alone, please remember you’re not. We’re all in this together and there’s always light at the end of the tunnel. #DriveOn”