-
Mildred Ella "Babe" Didrickso Zaharias was born on June 11th, 1911. She was an American athlete that outstanding success in golf, basketball, and track & field.
-
Didrickson was chosen as an all-american basketball player for two years in a row. She was on the team named "The Golden Cyclones"
-
This was a big accomplishment for women back then because usually women weren't given the same recgonition as men. Usually these awards were given out to only professionals.
-
She married George Zaharias, a professional wrestler in St. Louis, Missouri on December 23rd 1938. They met while playing golf and they did not have any children.
-
Zaharias was diagnosed with colon cancer i 1953, and after undergoing cancer surgery, she made a comeback in 1954.
-
Babe made a comeback in 1954 and started right on track with golf and basketball again.
-
Her colon cancer has reoccurred in 1955. She had eight golfing events that season and managed to gain her last two wins in competitive golf.
-
After battling her disease (colon cancer) for over three years, Mildred Ella “Babe” Didrikson Zaharias passed away on September 27, 1956 at John Sealy Hospital in Galveston, Texas.
-
The Babe Didrickson Zaharias museum is located in Beaumont, Texas.
-
Babe Zaharias park is located in Beaumont adjacent to her museum.
-
"The formula to success is simple: practice and concentration, then more practice and more concentration.
-
Don Van Natta wrote a book that is still very popular today about Babe Didrickson.
-
"My main idea in any kind of competition has been to go out there and cut loose"
