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Mildred ‘Babe’ Didrikson was born in Port Arthur, Texas. Her parents were immigrants from Norway. She was the sixth of seven children. The family moved to 850 Doucette in Beaumont, Texas aged 4.

Her mother called her ‘Bebe’ from a toddler. She was nicknamed Babe - after Babe Ruth - when she scored 5 home runs in a chidlhood baseball game.

She left school without graduating and went on to become an American athlete who excelled in golf, basketball, baseball, plus track and field.

At the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics she set 4 world records.
80 metres hurdles -11.7
Javelin 43.69 metres - the first woman Olympic champion
high jump 1.657 metres then 1,67 (same height as Jean Shiley who got the gold because Mildred used an improper technique).
(Apparently she also twice broke the long jump record but the judges ruled them
as fouls.)
Mildred is the only athlete, male or female, to win individual Olympic medals in separate running, throwing and jumping events.

In 1934 she tried Baseball . Mildred is still recognized as the world record holder for the farthest baseball thrown by a woman.

She then became America’s first female golf celebrity and was the leading player of the 1940s and early 1950s. As an amateur and professional she won many golf tournaments. Serious illness ended her golfing career in the mid 1950s.

Mildred was indeed a very talented sports woman.

Sources
Wikipedia
Amazing Athletes by Jean-Michal Billioud

Creative Commons "Sharealike"

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