Babe Zaharias won two gold medals in track and field at the 1932 Summer Olympics, before turning to professional golf and winning 10 LPGA major championships.
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33 Facts About Babe Zaharias
2.
Babe Zaharias later changed the spelling of her surname from Didriksen to Didrikson.
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3.
Babe Zaharias moved with her family to 850 Doucette in Beaumont, Texas, at age 4.
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4.
Babe Zaharias 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.
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5.
Babe Zaharias 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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6.
Babe Zaharias eventually dropped out without graduating after she moved to Dallas to play basketball.
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7.
Babe Zaharias was a singer and a harmonica player and recorded several songs on the Mercury Records label.
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8.
George Babe Zaharias, a Greek American, was a native of Pueblo, Colorado.
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9.
Babe Zaharias played organized baseball and softball and was an expert diver, roller-skater, and bowler.
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10.
Babe Zaharias 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.
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11.
Babe Zaharias was noted in the January 1933 press for playing a multi-day straight pool match in New York City against female Ruth McGinnis.
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12.
Babe Zaharias was a founding member of the Ladies Professional Golf Association, in 1950.
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13.
Babe Zaharias won the 1947 Titleholders Championship and the 1948 US Women's Open for her fourth and fifth major championships.
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14.
Babe Zaharias won 17 straight women's amateur victories, a feat never equaled by anyone.
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15.
Babe Zaharias had her greatest year in 1950 when she completed the Grand Slam of the three women's majors of the day: the US Open, the Titleholders Championship, and the Women's Western Open, a feat that made her the leader on the money list that year.
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17.
Babe Zaharias 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.
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19.
Babe Zaharias is buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery in her hometown of Beaumont, Texas.
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20.
Babe Zaharias used her fame to solicit donations for her cancer fund but as a spokesperson for the American Cancer Society.
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21.
Babe Zaharias was named the 10th Greatest North American Athlete of the 20th Century by ESPN.
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22.
Babe Zaharias broke the accepted models of femininity in her time, including the accepted models of female athleticism.
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23.
Babe Zaharias was one of six initial inductees into the LPGA Hall of Fame at its inception in 1977.
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24.
In 1976, Babe Zaharias was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.
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25.
In 2008, Babe Zaharias was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame.
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26.
On January 7,2021, Zaharias was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Donald J Trump.
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27.
Babe Zaharias is the highest-ranked woman, at No 10, on ESPN's list of the 50 top athletes of the 20th century.
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28.
Babe Zaharias broke the mold of what a lady golfer was supposed to be.
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29.
Babe Zaharias developed a grooved athletic swing reminiscent of Lee Trevino's, and she was so strong off the tee that a fellow Texan, the great golfer Byron Nelson, once said that he knew of only eight men who could outdrive her.
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30.
In 2014, Babe Zaharias was inducted into the Legacy Walk, an outdoor public display that celebrates LGBT history and people.
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31.
Babe Zaharias was inducted into the Texas Track and Field Coaches Hall of Fame, Class of 2016.
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32.
Babe Zaharias was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom on January 7,2021.
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33.
In 1949, Babe Zaharias purchased a golf course in the Forest Hills area of Tampa and lived nearby.
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