Learning from Babe Didrikson Zaharias
The Automatic Champion
by Saleem Rana
“Babe” Didrickson Zaharias was a phenomenal athlete. This Texan ran, jumped, rode horses, and played basketball and baseball-with tremendous flair.
In the Olympic tryouts in 1932, she won five first places in track and field events. In the games of that year in Los Angeles, she won a gold medal in the women’s 80 meter hurdles, a gold medal in the javelin throw, and a silver medal in the high jump.
After the Olympics, Zaharias turned to golf. Although she started from scratch, she won the National Women’s Amateur and the British Women’ Amateur.
