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Babe Didrikson Zaharias
Babe Zaharias c. 1938
Personal information
Full name Mildred Ella Didrikson Zaharias
Nickname Babe
Born (1911-06-26)June 26, 1911
Port Arthur, Texas, U.S.
Died September 27, 1956(1956-09-27) (aged 45)
Galveston, Texas, U.S.
Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Weight 126 lbs
Nationality  United States
Spouse
George Zaharias
​
(m. 1938)​
Career
Turned professional 1947
Former tour(s) LPGA Tour
(joined 1950, its founding)
Professional wins 48
Number of wins by tour
LPGA Tour 41
Other 7
Best results in LPGA Major Championships
(Wins: 10)
Western Open Won: 1940, 1944, 1945, 1950
Titleholders C'ship Won: 1947, 1950, 1952
U.S. Women's Open Won: 1948, 1950, 1954
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame 1974
LPGA Tour
Money Winner		 1950, 1951
LPGA Vare Trophy 1954
Associated Press
Female Athlete of the Year		 1932, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1950, 1954
Bob Jones Award 1957
Presidential Medal of Freedom 2021
Sport
Sport Athletics
Event(s) Sprint, 80 m hurdles, high jump, long jump, javelin throw, discus throw, shot put
Club Employers' Casualty Co. Club
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s) 80 mH – 11.7 (1932)
100 m – 12.3 (1931)
200 m – 25.6 (1931)
HJ – 1.65 m (1932)
LJ – 5.70 m (1930)
JT – 43.69 m (1932)
DT – 42.06 m (1932)
SP – 12.04 m (1932)
Medal record
Representing the  United States
Olympic Games
Gold 1932 Los Angeles 80 m hurdles
Gold 1932 Los Angeles Javelin throw
Silver 1932 Los Angeles High jump

Mildred Ella "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias (born June 26, 1911 – died September 27, 1956) was an amazing American athlete. She was great at many sports, including golf, basketball, baseball, and track and field. Babe won two gold medals in track and field at the 1932 Summer Olympics. Later, she became a professional golfer and won 10 major championships in the LPGA. She is often called one of the greatest female athletes of all time.

The Life of Babe Didrikson Zaharias

Mildred Ella Didrikson was born on June 26, 1911, in Port Arthur, Texas. She was the sixth of seven children. Her parents, Hannah and Ole Didriksen, came from Norway. When Babe was four, her family moved to Beaumont, Texas. She later changed the spelling of her last name to Didrikson.

Babe got her nickname "Babe" because she was so good at sports. Some say she hit five home runs in a childhood baseball game, like the famous player Babe Ruth. Her mother had also called her "Bebe" since she was very young.

More Than Just Sports

Babe Didrikson had many talents beyond sports. She was also a great seamstress and made many of her own clothes, even her golf outfits. She even won a sewing championship at a fair!

She went to Beaumont High School but wasn't a strong student. She left school to play basketball in Dallas. Babe was also a singer and played the harmonica. She even recorded some songs!

On December 23, 1938, Babe married George Zaharias, a professional wrestler. They met while playing golf. After they married, she became known as Babe Didrikson Zaharias. They didn't have any children.

Babe Zaharias Park IMG 1064
Babe Zaharias Park is located in Beaumont next to her museum.

Babe's Amazing Athletic Journey

Babe Didrikson became famous worldwide for her skills in track and field. She also earned All-American status in basketball. She played organized baseball and softball, and was also good at diving, roller-skating, and bowling.

Basketball and Track & Field Star

Babe's first job after high school was as a secretary for an insurance company in Dallas. But her main role was to play basketball for the company's team, the Golden Cyclones. She led her team to win an AAU Basketball Championship in 1931.

Babe first gained wider attention as a track and field athlete. In the 1932 AAU Championships, she competed in eight events. She won five of them and tied for first in another! Her incredible performances were enough for her to win the team championship all by herself.

Olympic Glory in 1932

At the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, Babe Didrikson set four world records. She won two gold medals and one silver medal in track and field.

  • In the 80-meter hurdles, she set a new world record of 11.7 seconds, winning gold.
  • In the javelin throw, she won gold with an Olympic record throw of 43.69 meters.
  • In the high jump, she won silver. She tied the world record with a jump of 1.657 metres (5.44 ft). Another American, Jean Shiley, also jumped the same height. Shiley was given the gold medal after a tie-breaking jump-off.

Babe is the only track and field athlete, male or female, to win individual Olympic medals in running, throwing, and jumping events. This shows how incredibly versatile she was!

From Olympics to Golf

After the Olympics, Babe performed on the vaudeville circuit. She also traveled with her own basketball team, Babe Didrikson's All-Americans. She even played pocket billiards (pool) competitively.

George and Babe Zaharias
George and Babe Zaharias around 1955

By 1935, Babe started playing golf, a sport she would become most famous for. In 1938, she even competed in the Los Angeles Open, a PGA tournament for men. She was one of the very few women to ever compete against men in this type of event.

Babe became America's first female golf celebrity. She was the top player in the 1940s and early 1950s. To become an amateur golfer again, she had to stop competing in other sports for three years. She regained her amateur status in 1942.

In 1947, she officially became a professional golfer. Babe helped start the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) in 1950. She won the 1946 U.S. Women's Amateur and the 1947 British Ladies Amateur. She also won three Women's Western Opens.

Babe won a tournament named after her, the Babe Zaharias Open, in her hometown of Beaumont, Texas. By 1950, she had won every golf title available. She won a total of 82 golf tournaments, both as an amateur and a professional.

Baseball Skills

Babe Didrikson even played baseball! In March 1934, she pitched in three exhibition games for Major League Baseball teams. She pitched for the Philadelphia Athletics, the St. Louis Cardinals, and the New Orleans Pelicans.

She is still recognized as holding the world record for the farthest baseball throw by a woman.

Later Years and Lasting Impact

Babe Zaharias had her best year in 1950. She won the "Grand Slam" of women's golf, which included the U.S. Open, the Titleholders Championship, and the Women's Western Open. She reached 10 wins faster than any other LPGA golfer, a record that still stands today.

In 1953, Babe was diagnosed with colon cancer. After surgery, she made an amazing comeback in 1954. She won the Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring average. She also won her 10th and final major championship, the U.S. Women's Open, just one month after her surgery.

Babe continued to play golf and also served as the president of the LPGA from 1952 to 1955. Her cancer returned in 1955. She passed away on September 27, 1956, at the age of 45.

During her final years, Babe became a public speaker for cancer awareness. She used her fame to encourage people to get checked for cancer and to support cancer clinics. She even met with US President Dwight Eisenhower to discuss her work.

Babe Zaharias's Legacy

Babe Zaharias was a true pioneer. She challenged what people thought women athletes could do. She was strong and confident, and she showed that women could be powerful in sports.

She was inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame in 1951. In 1957, she received the Bob Jones Award, a top honor in golf, after her death. She was also one of the first people inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame when it started in 1977.

There is a museum dedicated to her in Beaumont, Texas, called the Babe Didrikson Zaharias Museum. Several golf courses are named after her, including one in Tampa, Florida, that she and her husband once owned.

In 1976, Babe Zaharias was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame. The U.S. Postal Service even released a stamp honoring her in 1981. In 2021, she was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom, one of the highest civilian honors in the U.S.

Many people recognized Babe's greatness during her lifetime. The Associated Press named her the "Female Athlete of the Year" six times. In 1950, they voted her the "Greatest Female Athlete of the First Half of the Century."

Today, Babe Zaharias is still celebrated. In 1999, the Associated Press voted her the Woman Athlete of the 20th Century. Sports Illustrated magazine named her the second-greatest female athlete of all time. She is also in the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Her autobiography, This Life I've Led, tells her amazing story. In 1975, a TV movie called Babe was made about her life.

Amateur Golf Wins

  • 1935 Texas Women's Amateur
  • 1946 U.S. Women's Amateur, Women's Trans-Mississippi Amateur
  • 1947 North and South Women's Amateur, British Ladies Amateur

Professional Golf Wins

LPGA Tour Wins (41)

LPGA Majors are shown in bold.

Other Wins

  • 1940 Women's Texas Open
  • 1945 Women's Texas Open
  • 1946 All American Open, Women's Texas Open
  • 1947 Hardscrabble Open
  • 1951 Orlando Florida 2-Ball (with George Bolesta)
  • 1952 Orlando Mixed (with Al Besselink)

Major Golf Championships

Wins (10)

Year Championship Winning score Margin Runner-up
1940 Women's Western Open 5 & 4 United States Mrs. Russell Mann
1944 Women's Western Open 7 & 5 United States Dorothy Germain (a)
1945 Women's Western Open 4 & 2 United States Dorothy Germain (a)
1947 Titleholders Championship +4 (78–81–71–74=304) 5 strokes United States Dorothy Kirby (a)
1948 U.S. Women's Open E (75–72–75–78=300) 8 strokes United States Betty Hicks
1950 Titleholders Championship +10 (72–78–73–75=298) 8 strokes United States Claire Doran (a)
1950 Women's Western Open 5 & 3 United States Peggy Kirk
1950 U.S. Women's Open −9 (75–76–70–70=291) 9 strokes United States Betsy Rawls (a)
1952 Titleholders Championship +11 (74–73–73–79=299) 7 strokes United States Betsy Rawls
1954 U.S. Women's Open +3 (72–71–73–75=291) 12 strokes United States Betty Hicks

Images for kids

  • Zaharias museum

    The Babe Didrikson Zaharias Museum in Beaumont is also one of the city's welcoming centers.

See Also

  • List of golfers with most LPGA Tour wins
  • List of golfers with most LPGA major championship wins
  • Female golfers who have competed against men in open PGA tournaments:
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