Babe Didrikson

Babe Didrikson holding her All American trophy (https://www.nwhm.org/ ())

"All of my life I have always had the urge to do things better than anybody else." ("10k Truth Quotes by Babe Didrikson Zaharias"). This quote said by Babe herself, shows who Babe really was.  Who would know that the skinny, shy, and socially immature Babe, would accomplish so many goals and won gold medals in the Olympics. "Babe Didrikson was born on June 26, 1911 in Port Arthur, Texas.  Her father and mother were from Norway, where her mother had been an outstanding skier and skater" ("Mildred Didrikson Zaharia"). When Babe was younger, she played baseball with the fellow boys on her street. By hitting 5 home runs playing baseball, that's where Babe got her nickname: she was nicknamed after Babe Ruth himself. Babe found an interest in sports so in 1932 she did track and field and won 2-3 events. After that, Babe entered the British Women's Amateur Tournament and was the first woman to win. Babe began golf in 1931 where she became a amateur at that sport. Sadly in 1953, she was diagnosed with cancer and got to live a couple of years until she died in 1956. To be a hero, you must posses determination and be courageous and that is exactly what Babe had. Babe Didrikson's determination and courage made her the "All American" athlete that she was. She strived to play the game and did everything in her power to become "the greatest athlete of all time"; that is why she is a hero.

Babe playing golf (https://en.wikipedia.org/ ())

Babe's fighting and focused abilities helped her overcome cancer, and her continued love of sports made her determined. In Babe's early life, times were hard for her and her family. "Times were often difficult for the large Didrikson family, and as an adolescent Mildred worked at many part-time jobs, including sewing gunny sacks at a penny a sack. Her father, a firm believer in physical conditioning, built a weight-lifting apparatus out of a broomstick and some old flatirons" ("Babe Didrikson Zaharias"). Even though Babe had many part time jobs, that didn't keep her from working on her sports. Her dad helped her make a weight-lifting station in her house so she could keep working out. Later in Babe's life, she became good at her high school basketball, "At the age of fifteen, Babe was the high-scoring forward on the girls' basketball team at Beaumont Senior High School. She attracted the attention of Melvin J. McCombs, coach of one of the greatest girls' basketball teams in the nation. In February 1930, McCombs secured a job for her with the Employers Casualty Company of Dallas, and she was soon a star player on its Golden Cyclones. She returned to Beaumont in June to graduate with her high school class. The Golden Cyclones won the national championship the next three years, and she was All-American forward for two of those years"("Mildred Didrikson Zaharia"). Because Babe was determined, she was able to play with a professional at the age of 15.  After her years in the Olympics, Babe was diagnosed with cancer, "In 1953 Didrikson was diagnosed with cancer and underwent a colostomy. With characteristic resilience, she returned to enter the Tam O'Shanter "All-American" golf tournament a mere three months after the surgery"(Zaharias). Babe went through a couple of treatments in 1953, but that didn't stop her from competing. 3 months after her treatment, Babe won the United States Women's Open. Even though she was diagnosed with cancer that didn't stop her love of sports. Even though Babe had obstacles in her way, that didn't stop her from achieving her goals. She accomplished almost anything even with her petite body.

Babe taking her basketball photo (http://www.pophistorydig.com/ ())

Instead of being shy, Babe set out to show the nation that she could accomplish sports despite her un-physical body. That showed that she was courageous. Babe was tiny and didn't weigh much but that didn't stop her. "The skinny, shingle-headed teenager, a shy and socially immature girl who could win at sports but usually antagonized her fellow competitors, became a poised, well-dressed, graceful and popular champion-the darling of the galleries-whose drives whistled down the fairways and whose comments won the hearts of the spectators"("Mildred Didrikson Zaharia"). Babe's petite body figure made people think that she wasn't capable of playing all the sports that she played. Babe had natural talent for the sports she played so it didn't matter her size. Later in Babe's she turned her attention to track and field. "Didrikson soon turned her attention to track and field. At the National Women's AAU Track Meet in 1931, she won first place in eight events and was second in a ninth. In 1932, with much more interest in the meet because of the approaching Olympics, she captured the championship, scoring thirty points; the Illinois Women's Athletic Club, which entered a team of twenty-two women, placed second with twenty-two points"("Mildred Didrikson Zaharia"). This shows that she had the courage to become an Olympic athlete with only little practice. Her life was always a battle, and to add on that she was diagnosed with cancer. "In 1953 Didrikson was diagnosed with cancer and underwent a colostomy. With characteristic resilience, she returned to enter the Tam O'Shanter "All-American" golf tournament a mere three months after the surgery. This was an important tournament for her because it was a chance to prove to spectators (and to herself), that she still had what it took to play professional golf." This shows that Babe had the courage to still play golf while fighting with her condition. She could have stopped playing golf, but instead she was determined to win the "All American" golf tournament.

Babe became an all star athlete because she grew up working hard with everything she did. She had the mindset to do amazing things in her life and that is why she became the greatest athlete of all time. Babe had some hard things go in her life but that didn't stop her from becoming an athlete. When Babe turned 15 she was recruited to go and play basketball with professionals. With determination and courageous she completed all of her life long goals. I admire Babe's determination and her courageous because I'm an athlete. She proved that anything could be possible even for a girl. Her natural talent and her love of sports is was brought her to the olympics and that's why she's a hero. Babe once said, "Before I was ever in my teens, I knew exactly what I wanted to be when I grew up. My goal was to be the greatest athlete that ever lived." ("Quotes from the Greatest Female Athlete, Babe Didrikson  Zaharias").

Work Cited

"Quotes from the Greatest Female Athlete, Babe    Didrikson   Zaharias." About.com

Education.N.p., 30 June 2016. Web. 30 Jan. 2017.

"10k Truth Quotes by Babe Didrickson Zaharias." 10k Truth Quotes by Babe Didrickson     

Zaharias  N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2017.

"Babe Didrikson Zaharias."

Biography.com. A&E Networks Television, 23

Mar. 2015. Web. 18 Jan. 2017.

"Mildred Didrikson Zaharias." Dictionary of American Biography, Charles       

Scribner's Sons, 1980. Biography in Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/BT2310000044/BIC1?u=powa9245&xid=668963cd. Accessed 17 Jan. 2017.