32 Facts About Babe Didrikson

Babe Didrikson won two gold medals in track and field at the 1932 Summer Olympics, before turning to professional golf and winning 10 LPGA major championships.

Babe Didrikson later changed the spelling of her surname from Didriksen to Didrikson.

Babe Didrikson moved with her family to 850 Doucette in Beaumont, Texas, at age 4.

Babe Didrikson claimed to have acquired the nickname "Babe" upon hitting five home runs in a childhood baseball game, but her Norwegian mother had called her "Bebe" from the time she was a toddler.

Babe Didrikson claimed to have won the sewing championship at the 1931 State Fair of Texas in Dallas; she did win the South Texas State Fair in Beaumont, embellishing the story many years later in 1953.

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Babe Didrikson eventually dropped out without graduating after she moved to Dallas to play basketball.

Babe Didrikson was a singer and a harmonica player and recorded several songs on the Mercury Records label.

Already famous as Babe Didrikson, she married George Zaharias, a professional wrestler, in St Louis, Missouri, on December 23,1938.

Babe Didrikson gained world fame in track and field and All-American status in basketball.

Babe Didrikson played organized baseball and softball and was an expert diver, roller-skater, and bowler.

Babe Didrikson's performances were enough to win the team championship, despite her being the sole member of her team.

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

Babe Didrikson did not compete in the discus throw, as fellow American Lillian Copeland beat her out in the Olympic trials; Copeland went on to win the gold medal in discus.

Babe Didrikson is the only track and field athlete, male or female, to win individual Olympic medals in separate running, throwing and jumping events.

Babe Didrikson was a competitive pocket billiards player, though not a champion.

Babe Didrikson was noted in the January 1933 press for playing a multi-day straight pool match in New York City against female Ruth McGinnis.

Babe Didrikson became America's first female golf celebrity and the leading player of the 1940s and early 1950s.

Babe Didrikson was a founding member of the Ladies Professional Golf Association, in 1950.

Babe Didrikson won the 1947 Titleholders Championship and the 1948 US Women's Open for her fourth and fifth major championships.

Babe Didrikson won 17 straight women's amateur victories, a feat never equaled by anyone.

In March 1934, Babe Didrikson pitched a total of four innings in three Major League spring training exhibition games:.

Babe Didrikson spent time with the House of David barnstorming team and is still recognized as the world record holder for the farthest baseball throw by a woman.

Babe Didrikson was a close friend of fellow golfer Betty Dodd.

Babe Didrikson took the Vare Trophy for lowest scoring average, her only win of that trophy, and her 10th and final major with a US Women's Open championship, one month after the surgery and while wearing a colostomy bag.

Babe Didrikson is buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery in her hometown of Beaumont, Texas.

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Babe Didrikson used her fame to solicit donations for her cancer fund but as a spokesperson for the American Cancer Society.

Babe Didrikson was named the 10th Greatest North American Athlete of the 20th Century by ESPN.

Babe Didrikson was one of six initial inductees into the LPGA Hall of Fame at its inception in 1977.

Babe Didrikson broke the mold of what a lady golfer was supposed to be.

In 1975, the film Babe Didrikson, based on Zaharias' life, was released, with Susan Clark playing the lead role.

Babe Didrikson was inducted into the Texas Track and Field Coaches Hall of Fame, Class of 2016.

Babe Didrikson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom on January 7,2021.