Babe Didrikson Zaharias: The Most Outstanding Woman Athlete

Babe Didrikson Zaharias
Athletic. Marvelous. Competitive. Hard-Working. All of these words can be used to describe this wonderful athlete. Though Babe isn’t the only outstanding woman athlete, she really was the first one to break the stereotype that only men can break records and be in the hall of fame. She paved the way for athletes like Lisa Leslie and Ronda Rousey to work their way to the top. Babe was good at everything she played, but excelled best at basketball, track-and-field and golf.
On June 26, 1911 in Port Arthur, Texas Babe Zaharias, born Mildred Ella Didrecksen was born. Her parents’ names are Hannah Marie Olson and Ole Didreckson. Her home was hit by a hurricane when she was just four years old and her and her six siblings moved 17 miles inland to Beaumont, Texas. Both of her parents were athletic so it wasn’t a surprise when Babe grew up excelling in all sports she played. Speaking of sports, she got her nickname “Babe” by hitting five home runs in a childhood game. When she went to high school, she started basketball. By the age of 15 she was the highest scoring forward at her Beaumont Senior High School. She

once even scored 106 points in one game.
After she graduated, she turned her attention to Track-and-Field.

There was a National Women’s AAU meet in 1931. She placed first in eight events and second in a ninth. Then in 1931, she won the meet scoring 30 points, 8 more points than a team of 30! Then she went to the Olympics. Women were only allowed to enter three events, but Babe isn’t any ordinary women. She broke four world records. She won the javelin throw with 143 feet and 3 inches. Won the 80-meter hurdles where she broke the record twice, her best time was 11.7 seconds. She also won the high jump but her jump was disallowed and was awarded second. The jump was disallowed because her head went over the pole before her body which, back then, was not allowed. However, that type of jump is now allowed. So if that rule was updated earlier, she would have won first in that event

too.
Babe had played her first game of golf in 1931 or 1932. According to Gallico, on her 11th game she drove the ball 260 yards! She entered her first golf tournament in the fall of 1934. She did not win this tournament, but got a qualifying score of 77. In the Texas States Women’s Championship, she took the win when she carded a birdie on the par-5 31st hole. In the summer of 1935 she was declared a professional because of an unauthorized endorsement.
Then January of 1938 she met George Zaharias. On December 23, 1938 they were married. They never had any children. Soon after, George saw how talented Babe was and urged her to take up golf again. She did, and she practiced long and hard every day. She would drive as many as 1,000 balls a day or play until her hands were bloody and blistered. Then in April of 1953 Zaharias had a cancer operation and it was feared that she would never return, but sure enough she was back at it again in just three months. The year after, she won the United States Women's Open. By twelve strokes! In 1955, she had a second cancer operation, however she did not survive this operation.
In conclusion, I think we can all say that Babe Zaharias is not just an astonishing athlete but a really inspiring role model. For all of her talented performances, she won Woman Athlete of the Half-Century in 1950. I believe that she deserved this award for all of her hard work throughout her whole life and for standing up and saying that they can take the saying “only boys are good at sports” and shove it up you know where. Babe stood up and showed that she can rule the world and I can only dream to be anywhere near as skillful as her but if she’s taught me one thing, it’s to always follow your dreams and don’t stop hustling till you get there.