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)
a US woman golfer and a gold medal winner for the javelin and 100 metres hurdles race in the 1932 Olympic Games. She was one of the greatest golfers of all-time, winning the British championship and three US Opens in the 1940s and 1950s (1911-56)