33 Facts About Babe Zaharias

1.

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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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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16.

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

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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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18.

On September 27,1956, Babe Zaharias died of her illness at the age of forty-five at the John Sealy Hospital in Galveston, Texas.

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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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