MILDRED (BABE) DIDRIKSEN (Zaharias) ALL-AROUND (Inducted 1974)

Born June 26, 1914, Beaumont, Texas. Died September 27, 1956.

Up to this point, there is little doubt that Babe Didriksen is the top woman athlete of the 20th Century. During a quarter-century period, "The Babe" as she was known, dominated just about every sport she participated in and track and field was no exception.

Already a star basketball player in 1930, she was the star of the 1931 National AAU track meet and by 1932 singlehandedly won the team title. At the 1932 Olympic Games, she was restricted to only three events but won the javelin and 80-meter hurdles and lost the high jump on a technicality although she set a world record. Overall, she won or shared 10 AAU titles in six events and would have added to that impressive record had she not become a professional basketball player. She later turned to golf and her exploits on the links became legend, being named to that sport's Hall of Fame. Named the top woman athlete in the first half of the 20th Century, she was married to wrestling promoter George Zaharias. She was elected to U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1983. Her last name is sometimes spelled "Didrikson" but Didriksen is the name on her birth certificate.