Mildred "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias
(June 26, 1914 - September 27, 1956) U.S.A.
Athlete
Mildred Ella Didriksen was born in Port Arthur, Texas. Her mother, née Hannah Olson, was born in Norway and emigrated to the United States in 1908; her father, Ole Didriksen, also born in Norway, came to Port Arthur in 1905 and worked as a sailor and carpenter. Throughout her adult life she was known as Babe Didrikson, taking the name "Babe" from the sports hero Babe Ruth and the spelling of her surname, Didrikson, to emphasize that she was of Norwegian rather than Swedish ancestry.
After the 1915 hurricane which devastated Port Arthur, the family, which included her sister and two brothers, moved to nearby Beaumont. Growing up in the rugged south end of the city, Didrikson was a tomboy who shunned feminine qualities and excelled at a variety of athletic endeavors. She was slim and of average height but had a muscular body and was exceptionally well coordinated. Her hair was cut short like a boy's, and she usually wore masculine clothing. As a youth, Didrikson had a belligerent personality and was constantly involved in fights and scrapes.
At Beaumont High School, Didrikson was outstanding at a number of sports, including volleyball, tennis, baseball, basketball, and swimming, but she was not popular with her classmates. Didrikson was a poor student, usually passing only enough courses to remain eligible for athletic competition. All of her energy was directed toward accomplishment on the athletic field, where she had no equal. Didrikson's best sport was basketball, which was the most popular women's sport of the era. During her years in Beaumont, her high school team never lost a game ó largely because of her aggressive, coordinated play.
Didrikson was a lesbian American athlete who excelled in several sports. She is considered the top female athlete of the first half of the 20th century. Babe excelled in basketball, swimming, track & field, and golf; she also played baseball, bowled, and played tennis. In college, her sports were basketball and track & field.
 By 1930, she was a star player; she played on the All-American women's basketball team. She also dominated women's track & field; she was the star of the 1931 National AAU track meet, and in 1932, single-handedly won the team title; in the 1932 Summer Olympics, she won gold medals in the javelin throw and the 80- meter hurdles (setting records in both events), plus a silver medal in the high jump--she might have won more, but was restricted to only three events.
She won or shared ten AAU titles in six events, and would have added to that tally if she had not become a professional basketball player. During the 1930s, Babe took up golf, and excelled at that, too; she had 31 career victories (including 12 majors).
Babe was married to wrestling promoter George Zaharias. In the spring of 1953, doctors discovered that Didrikson had cancer, and she underwent radical surgery in April, 1953. Although many feared that her athletic career was over, Didrikson played in a golf tournament only fourteen weeks after the surgery. She played well enough the remainder of the year to win the Ben Hogan Comeback of the Year Award. In 1954, Didrikson won five tournaments, including the United States Women's Open, and earned her sixth Woman Athlete of the Year Award.
 During 1955, doctors diagnosed that the cancer had returned, and she suffered excruciating pain during her final illness. Despite the pain, Didrikson continued to play an occasional round of golf and through her courage served as an inspiration for many Americans.
She died in Galveston of cancer at 42. She has a place in several halls of fame: in 1951, she was inducted into the Women's Golf (now LPGA) Hall of Fame; in 1974, she was inducted into the USATF National Track & Field Hall of Fame; in 1980, she was inducted into the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame (for golf and track); in 1983, she was elected to the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame.
Source: http://www.greatwomen.org/zhrias.htm - et alii
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