Zaharias, Babe Didrikson

Zaharias, Babe Didrikson: see Didrikson, Babe.

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Zaharias, Babe Didrikson

 or Babe Didrikson orig. Mildred Ella Didrikson

(born June 26, 1911, Port Arthur, Texas, U.S.—died Sept. 27, 1956, Galveston, Texas) U.S. athlete who excelled in several sports. She became a remarkable performer in basketball and track and field and later a leading golfer. In 1930–32 she was a member of the women's All-America basketball team. During the same period she also won eight events and tied in a ninth in national championship competition in track and field. In the 1932 Olympics she won gold medals in the 80-m hurdles and javelin throw; she was deprived of the high-jump gold medal for using a then-unorthodox method. As a golfer from 1946, she won numerous championships, including the U.S. and British women's amateur tournaments (1946, 1947) and the U.S. Women's Open (1948, 1950, 1954).