or Babe Didrikson orig. Mildred Ella Didrikson
born June 26, 1914, Port Arthur, Texas, U.S.
died Sept. 27, 1956, Galveston, Texas
U.S. athlete who excelled in several sports.
She became a remarkable performer in basketball and track and field and later a leading golfer. In 1930–31 she was a member of the women's All-America basketball team. In national track-and-field competition in 1930–32, she won eight events and tied for a ninth. In the 1932 Olympics she won gold medals in the 80-m hurdles and javelin throw; she was deprived of the high-jump gold medal for using a then-unorthodox method. As a golfer from 1946, she won numerous championships, including the U.S. and British women's amateur tournaments (1946, 1947) and the U.S. Women's Open (1948, 1950, 1954).